Watching Race To The Edge
by Eikntt
Summary: A witch arrives on Berk, wanting to show the village what their Dragon Riders have been up to at the Edge. Takes place a few days after RTTE, before HTTYD2. None of the episodes will be in order to make things easier and more fun for me, requests as to what episodes to show them are welcome! Sorry if there's any OOC-ness. Please support the original series!
1. The Witch's Visit

It had been a few days since the riders had returned from Dragon's Edge. Hiccup had been out with Toothless exploring the world more often than not, with his 20th (or, 5th, if you wanted to be technical) birthday in a few months. Astrid and Stormfly would accompany him sometimes, and whenever they came back, he would usually spend a few hours working on either his flight-suit or his new leg. Otherwise, he would be in the Great Hall with his friends upon invitation. If you could call his friends practically dragging him out of the forge or his bed as an invitation.

It was during one such day as they were eating together when Spitelout burst abruptly through the doors on Kingstail.

"Stoick!" He called.

"What is it, Spitelout?" Stoick asked.

"A strange woman in a cloak arrived at the docks," he replied, "A witch, she wants to see you."

Murmurs rippled through the hall as Stoick's eyes widened in both fear and curiosity. What did a witch want with him? Gothi was also a bit of a seidhr practitioner, but she was nowhere near the power displayed by the witches he had heard of in the tales he was told as a child. Who knows what kind of sorcery would occur when he met her? Finally, he spoke.

"I'll check it out."

Suddenly, an almost soothing voice echoed through the hall. It was female, and unfamiliar to the Vikings. It was no doubt the voice of the witch.

"No need for that, Stoick," the voice had said, "I will be entering the hall. That is, if you would allow it? No harm will come to you or your village."

Stoick thought for a moment, and knew that it would be unwise to challenge a witch.

"Come in." He said, gruffly.

Several clouds of smoke formed in the hall, as the clouds began to gather around each other, joining into one large mass at the centre. The clouds of smoke dispersed, revealing a cloaked woman with brown hair and pink eyes. She carried a staff, much like Gothi's, and appeared to be smirking at the audience before her. Every Viking and dragon in the hall stared, as she cleared her throat and spoke once more.

"Thank you kindly for allowing me to enter, Stoick." She began, "I have come here to show you what your son and his friends have been up to at the Edge," she eyed them playfully and winked as the aforementioned Dragon Riders gulped, their parents turning to them with raised eyebrows.

"Oh boy," Hiccup heard Snotlout whisper, "We are so dead."

"All the times we almost died?" Fishlegs added, softly, "We are more than dead."

"Whatever do you mean?" Spitelout asked. It was then that the witch raised her staff before tapping it on the ground, a whirl of light coming from it and forming a bright rectangle at the front of the hall. The Vikings let out awed gasps as they turned to the bright rectangle.

"That rectangle," she explained, "is called a screen. It will display videos, -moving pictures, of sorts- of the Dragon Riders' experiences and adventures. I figured that you all would be curious, and their parents especially so, to know what they'd been doing while they were away from Berk for about a year."

The murmuring of the villagers continued, while the Riders groaned.

"Hold on, wait a minute here, it's gonna show everything?" Hiccup asked. He and the gang did not look forward to their more personal and embarrassing moments being revealed for all to see.

"Yeah, what?" Snotlout asked.

The witch only rolled her eyes, "Don't worry," she said, "I'm not gonna reveal every living second, just the ones that are relevant. I won't show you singing in the showers, Snotlout."

Snotlout blushed at that while the gang struggled to contain their snickers, Spitelout raising his eyebrows while his mother smiled at him knowingly. The rest of the village sent each other surprised and yet not-really-too-surprised looks. Hookfang let out the loudest chortle, and Snotlout ordered him to shut up.

"One more thing," The witch started. "To make things easier and more fun for me, none of these will be in order. Some of them may have happened a few weeks ago, while others would have happened several months ago. Don't be surprised if you see some from before Dagur became good."

Dagur and Mala, who had been visiting Berk at the time but were too busy kissing each other to really notice or care about the magical mishaps going on, looked up at the mention of Dagur's name.

"Huh? What happened?" Dagur asked, confused. Heather and Throk explained the situation to them both. Dagur cringed as the riders winced in sympathy, while Mala sent him a curious look.

"I have also enchanted this place so that time doesn't pass outside this hall while we are watching," The witch continued, "So you don't have to worry about attacks and whatnot."

"If you need some food, just say the word and I will make it appear. Have fun!" At that, the Witch disappeared into another cloud of smoke. The Vikings turned to the screen as it began to whirl. Toothless rumbled and a whole bucket of fish appeared before him and he began to dine in, Hiccup rolling his eyes and receiving a smack from his tail in return.

**So yeah, my first fanfic! On here, that is. Oh, my friend is gonna kill me when they find out. ANYWAY, if you can't already tell, this is a "Watching Race To The Edge" fanfic! Feel free to request an episode for these Vikings to watch. Suggestions on how they react are welcome too.**


	2. Gone Gustav Gone

**Okay, these episodes may take me longer than I initially thought, but whatever lol. Also, just to clarify, I will only really be doing these when I really feel like it or have nothing better to do. FFN ain't really my main thing so sorry in advance if I make people wait. Though, doing this is pretty fun and even though I'll probably have a bunch of hiatuses, I will never cancel this series. Even if I do end up quitting, which is very unlikely, I'd probably put it up for adoption or something. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

**ArtinandWritin: Thanks for the review and episode suggestion! Your wish is my command ;)**

**Claudia: I don't have an AO3 account and don't really plan on getting one anytime soon. People are welcome to repost my stuff there, though! Just be sure to credit me as the original author.**

* * *

**Original episode was written by ****F.M. De Marco and directed by Elaine Bogan**

* * *

**The screen faded from glowing white to black, and then it changed to show a seagull flying down into the Ship Graveyard. The seagull lands in the water while a Berserker ship floats in the background. The seagull flies off as a giant eel attempts to eat it.**

The dragons and the Riders shuddered at the sight of the giant eel. Those things were not only disgusting, but they were terrifying!

A few Vikings, Stoick and Gobber included, shuddered as well, but for a different reason. They knew of the dangers lying in the Ship Graveyard, and had heard many a tale of those who attempted to navigate it, only to crash and never be seen again.

**Savage's voice boomed through the hall, "Pull! Pull!" as The Reaper was lifted up by chains and the eels swam through the waters.**

Dagur glared at the screen upon hearing Savage's voice.

"Traitor," he muttered under his breath.

**"Keep pulling, you maggots!" Savage shouted from the ship, "Unless you want to be giant eel chum!" He knocked a shield off the ship, sending it crashing into a sea to be devoured by an eel. The screen cuts to Dagur, talking to the muscles on his arm.**

**"Hello, gorgeous. Mwah." He says as he kisses his muscles. He does a pullup on a dragon cage, and then kisses his muscles again after saying, "Oh, hello again."**

"What?" Dagur practically shouts to the incredulous looks he received. Mala chuckled fondly. Snotlout, meanwhile, took this as an opportunity to flirt with Ruffnut.

"Glad I'm not the only one who takes good care of my muscles," He whispered, "Right, babe?"

"Ugh," Ruffnut replied, while Tuffnut punched Snotlout in the face for her. Spitelout's hand met his own face as he sighed at his son's incompetency, and Fishlegs just glared.

**Dagur continues doing his pullups, "Work for me, baby! Work for Daddy!" He says to his muscles. Meanwhile, Savage approaches him to give him a report.**

**"The Reaper is starting to surface, sir!"**

**"I can see that!" Dagur shrieks.**

**"Oh, right." Savage replies, meekly.**

"I don't know why I let him work for me," Dagur groaned at the same time as his onscreen self.

**Dagur groaned, rolling his eyes, "Hello, gorgeous." He says to his other arm while he continues his routine of pullups. "So.. pretty!"**

"Not as pretty as you, my Queen Mala-Pooh!" He coos to Mala.

"Oh, stop, my lovely Butterfly!" She coos back. The two continued flirting while Heather chuckled, a few of the married Vikings smiling fondly as they remembered their own days of endless flirting. Snotlout and the Twins gagged at the sappiness and affection, while Astrid knocked them on their helmets.

**The Berserkers are shown boarding their ship, having looted The Reaper. One of them puts down a heavy metal trap.**

**"That's the last of it," He states. Dagur starts to pace around.**

**"Well," Savage begins, "Now we have everything of value from the dragon-hunting ship." **

**"No, not everything." Dagur throws a, well, dagger at a drawing of the Dragon Eye pasted on a mast behind Savage, Savage narrowly dodging. **

**The screen fades to Hiccup's hut, the real Dragon Eye being held in Hiccup's hands. He takes out one of the lenses and blow on it for a moment, before wiping it on his tunic and putting it back.**

**"Okay," He says to Toothless, "Give me a slow burn, bud."**

**Toothless complies, and a set of glowing images show up on the wall from the Dragon Eye.**

"Woah.." Several Vikings breathe, "Amazing!" One says. A few Vikings are lost and do not understand the value of the Dragon Eye, while a few others begin muttering about the object being witchcraft.

**"Okay, I've seen this before, but what happens if I push.." He pushes a button on the eye, and the images switch from a light purple to a glowing red. It shows the various Dragon Classes.**

Those who have read the Book of Dragons recognised the symbols, and their eyes widened. Fishlegs let out a small squeal while Gobber leaned in, curious.

**"Cool. Dragon Classes. What do you say we check out the Night Fury, bud?" Hiccup says to his dragon. Toothless groaned, tired, while Hiccup retorts with, "Try to contain your excitement, would you?" Toothless chuckles sarcastically, and groans as he goes back to sleep.**

"Someone's grouchy," Astrid remarks, playfully.

**"Now, Monstrous Nightmare gem," Hiccup pushes the buttons as the images switched, "Plus Night Fury, equals…"**

Many of the more studious Vikings leaned in.

**"Nothing," He says as the images fade to, well, nothing.**

The previous Vikings slouched in disappointment.

** "Okay," He reactivates the Eye and directs it to a wall which opens, revealing Astrid. **

**"Oh! Astrid class" He says, chuckling slightly to himself.**

"Wait," Tuffnut started, "Astrid's a _dragon_?"

"Why didn't you tell us!?" Ruffnut continued.

"She's not a dragon, you idiots!" Snotlout snapped.

Hiccup's eyes widened in realisation as he remembered what day it was, and groaned, sinking from his seat on the bench to the floor while the others looked at him in concern.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Oh, no." He moaned.

**"Hiccup," Astrid starts, "We have a problem. A huge problem."**

**"Dagur?" Hiccup replied.**

**"Worse." Astrid says.**

**"What could possibly be worse than Dagur?" Hiccup asks, worry etched on his face.**

"Aw, Brother!" Dagur cooed, "I'm flattered!"

"Oh no," Astrid groaned, also realizing what day it was.

**"Aah!" Gustav and Fanghook crash through the door.**

**"Gustav!" He cries triumphantly.**

**"Gustav?!" Hiccup cries unbelievingly.**

**"Gustav." Astrid states with a finality.**

"Gustav!" Gustav says, as triumphant as his onscreen self, perhaps even more so, pleased to be onscreen.

"Gustav…" the other Vikings and the rest of the gang moan, the gang realizing what day it was.

"Gustav?" Mala and Throk asked curiously, not knowing who the teen was.

"Gust-Hat!" Dagur cheers enthusiastically as he nudged his apprentice.

"Gustav!" His parents shrieked, not pleased to see their son so far away from Berk, "What are you doing on the Edge, young man?"

"Eh heh.." Gustav laughs, nervously.

Gobber takes a sip from his cup of mead, eyeing both the screen and the Riders. "This should be good," he mused, "Looks like Ragnarok has come to the Edge early."

**"Gustav, what are you doing here?" Hiccup says as he backs into his hut. Gustav begins taking a look around at Hiccup's stuff while Hiccup continues talking, "I- I mean, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"**

"Some pleasure!" Snotlout groaned, smacking his own forehead. Astrid socked him in the arm, "Don't just say that out loud!"

**Snotlout, the Twins, and Fishlegs entered the room. "Hiccup, did you hear Gustav is.." Snotlout trailed off, seeing Gustav and Fanghook in the hut, "..standing right beside you. Perfect."**

**He tries to fake a small smile as Tuffnut remarks from the side, "You're looking a little different there, Guster." Gustav hops off the furniture.**

**"Yeah," He says, "I'm growing a beard." He points to a single strand of hair on his chin. Tuffnut leans in, "Really? Let me see." The camera zooms in on his one stubble.**

The Vikings laugh, "A beard, he says!" "What a tiny little nubble!" "My Great-Grandma SeaButt had more of a beard than that!"

Gustav let out an embarrassed laugh, his face turning nearly as red as Stoick's beard, and groaned uncomfortably.

"Alright, cut it out, you guys." Hiccup said in his defence.

**"Hah! Even Ruff has more hair on her chinny-chin-chin than that!" Tuffnut mocks, pulling out Gustav's 'beard'. **

**"Ow!" Gustav cried, knocking into a chest with the Dragon Eye on top, "Ow!" he cried again, as Hiccup played with a loose string on his tunic. **

Gustav muttered under his breath, that hurt! Meanwhile, a few of the other Vikings winced at his pain while another few snickered, none as loudly as the Twins, who were then knocked unconscious by Astrid.

**"Hey, what's that thing?" He says, holding the Dragon Eye. **

**"Oh," Hiccup says, reaching out a hand to stop him. Too late, though. Gustav looked into the Dragon eye and was nearly blinded by it before he pulled back. "Woah!"**

**The scene changes to Gustav's POV, with golden dots of light blocking his vision as an after effect of looking into the Eye. "You see these spots?" He asks, **

Dagur and Gustav groaned, that got so annoying, so quick!

"Is that how it looks like?" Hiccup asked Gustav and Dagur, interested by the change in perspective. They both nodded in confirmation.

**"Some sort of sun sword?" he wobbled, dropping the eye into Hiccup's hands. "I'll take that. No, Gustav, It's not a sun sword." He passes the Eye to Fishlegs.**

**"It's the Dragon Eye," Fishlegs started as Gustav continued wobbling, "and it's very old and very fragile."**

**"Woah, these spots, they're not going away." Gustav knocked into a wall, sending one of Toothless' spare tails falling. "Ow!" He held his face in pain and Toothless caught the tail, annoyed. Fishlegs begins his lecture, "It isn't something to just be.. touched."**

**"Relax, Fishlegs, I know what I'm doing," Gustav says as he wobbles into the wall once more, knocking all the other tails off while Toothless snarls, irritated. "Hey!" Gustav and the tail both fall onto the ground as Toothless winced. Fanghook dropped one of the tails on Toothless' head.**

"You're sure?" Snotlout scoffs.

**Snotlout begins speaking, "Gustav, Gustav, over here," he puts his hand on Gustav's helmet, "Uh, when are you leaving?"**

**"That's funny, Snotlout," Gustav replies, "but I'm not leaving," he pushes Snotlout's hand off, "I'm moving here."**

**Snotlout gasps.**

The Hall gasps as well, Gustav was moving into the Edge? They suddenly understood the Riders' pain, and either cringed or chuckled. Gustav's parents, meanwhile, glared daggers at their son. "Oh, no," his father began, looking ready to explode, "You're not moving anywhere, not on our watch."

Gustav gulped.

**Tuffnut laughs, "Ha, ha! Yeah, yeah, you are," he slaps Ruffnut on the back, pushing her to the side as she looked at her twin incredulously.**

Ruffnut punched her brother for that. Tuffnut punched back, and the two began a new fight.

**"Imagine... he would never," he wipes a fake tear from his eye, and then comes to a realisation, "Wait, he's serious?" Ruffnut stares at him blankly.**

**"I'll get the stake and firewood," Tuffnut says as the Twins begin walking out.**

The Larsons, Dagur, the other Riders and a few Vikings glared at him with their eyebrows raised as he shrunk behind his sister. The rest just chuckled.

**"Oh, hold on, hold on," Hiccup pleads as the Twins turn around, Gustav still wobbling in the background, "No one is burning anyone at the stake."**

**"Hiccup's right," Ruffnut admits, "Let's just throw him off the cliff."**

The glares turned to Ruffnut as she smiled at the thought of throwing someone off a cliff, oblivious to the stares.

**Hiccup presses his hand to his forehead, "Guys, I'm sure there's a simple explanation!"**

**"Please tell me there's a simple explanation, Gustav," he says quickly as he turns to the wobbling boy. **

**Gustav rubs his eyes, "Yeah, very simple! By the way, do not look right into that sun sword thing, ha ha ha," he whooped, "Anyway, you said when I was ready," He posed, dramatically, "I could join the Dragon Riders."**

**"Well, I'm ready and I'm here to join!" He claimed, "Where's my hut?"**

**The camera zooms in on Hiccup's dismayed face.**

The Vikings all groaned in unison, while the Larson parents chuckled slightly smugly.

**The scene changes to Astrid, Stormfly and Hiccup standing outside Hiccup's hut. "Wait a minute," Astrid complains, "Why do I have to watch him?"**

**"I would do it," Hiccup replies, "but I'm making some, just, major breakthroughs with the Dragon Eye."**

Astrid punches Hiccup lightly in the arm, "Ow," he cried, "W-Why would you do that?"

"That's for making excuses," she retorted back. The gang snickered at his unfortunate luck.

**"So?"**

**"Well, I did promise him that when the time was right, I would train him to be a Dragon Rider," he says, holding the Eye, "I just didn't think that said 'time' would be today."**

**"Well, what am I supposed to do with him in the meantime?"**

**"I-I don't know, just.. keep him occupied."**

The Larson parents and a few others snorted, nothing could keep Gustav occupied!

**"Great," Astrid turns around, grumpily, "So I'm a babysitter."**

**Hiccup laughs, "Babysitter!" as he puts his hand to his forehead and Astrid crosses her arms, "No! I mean, come on. He's- He's 16. How much trouble could he possibly be?"**

Gobber snorted, while Stoick coughed into his hand, "Lad, you weren't much better when you were at that age!" Gobber smirked.

"Alvin the Treacherous," Snotlout started.

"Me," Dagur continued.

"Literally stepping off a cliff," Astrid finished.

"Wait, what?" Dagur asked as the rest of the hall paled, gasped, and gossiped. Hiccup had jumped off a cliff?

"Oh come on!" Hiccup groaned, as the Riders held back their snickers, "Gee, way to take things way out of context. I did it to save Toothless, he was locked in a death-duel with a Whispering Death, alright?"

Stoick breathed a sigh of relief, having previously been as pale as a sheet, while Gobber laughed, "I swear, one of these days, you're gonna give everyone a heart attack!"

**Smidvarg crash landed in front of them, shrieking as the camera zoomed in on him. "Smidvarg," Hiccup started to ask as the view changed to Smidvarg's view of them upside down, "What is happening?"**

"What kind of name is Smidvarg?" Stoick asked.

"Tuffnut named him," Hiccup explained.

**"Hey, Hiccup," Gustav's voice rang out, as the Night Terror gathered near him and Fanghook, "Did you know they could do this?" He flies into the mass of Terrors, sending them scattering, "Awesome!"**

Astrid felt her irritation grow, those were supposed to be their first line of defence!

**"Please?" Hiccup pleaded to Astrid, "I just need more time."**

**"Fine!" Astrid called as she boarded on Stormfly, "Gustav! Arena, now!" As Astrid flies off, Smidvarg approaches Hiccup.**

**"By the way, your timing.. impeccable." Hiccup says, casually as Smidvarg begins snarling angrily at him before walking away.**

Toothless let out a draconic laugh, having finished his barrel of fish.

**The scene changes to Astrid, flying with the sun behind her and romantic music playing in the background. She turns to look at Gustav, standing on Fanghook with his hands on his hips. "Oh, Gustav," she praised, "You're so much older and more mature, and I just love that rugged beard you're growing." **

Astrid paled, thoroughly creeped out, "I did not say that!" She shouted before gagging, the rest of the Hall let out booming laughs as the Larson parents turned to Gustav, amused. Snotlout could only sit there and let out a satisfied sigh, she was so beautiful! Realising what he was doing, he turned to Ruffnut, "You beat her by a mile, babe!" Ruffnut gagged as she pushed Snotlout away from her.

Hiccup, meanwhile, couldn't resist gaping at the screen, his cheeks turning red, before turning to look at the real thing and smiling. Astrid truly was a Divine Beauty. Gustav, too, felt a blush creeping up on his face, out of both embarrassment at the others seeing his imagination, and because of how pretty Astrid truly was.

**"Gustav!" Astrid shouts, angrily as Gustav is snapped back into reality.**

**"Oh! Hey, Astrid," Gustav greets, sitting on the floor, "I was just dream-"**

**"Uh-uh-uh," She stops him before he can continue, "Don't creep me out."**

"Too late," the real Astrid retched, turning green.

**She put her hands on her hips, "You're gonna help with target practice."**

**The scene reveals Stormfly and Fanghook also in the arena, "Do you think you can handle that?" She asks as Gustav stands up.**

**"Oh, I can handle that," he says, walking into Astrid, who pushes him away. **

**"Ugh," She points to a stack of target-barrels, "When I say 'throw,' you throw." Astrid walks off.**

"Got it!" Tuffnut whispered to himself, grabbing hold of a piece of steamed yak he had summoned earlier and eyeing one of the Vikings in the crowd. Ruffnut, realising what he was planning on doing, snickered.

**Astrid climbs onto Stormfly and they fly off, completing a basic exercise course while doing barrel-rolls. As they dive into the arena and fly out again, Gustav holds a barrel. "She sure is something, isn't she, Fanghook?" He leans on his dragon's head. Astrid flies by, Stormfly and Fanghook having a quick call to each other. **

**"Okay, Gustav," Astrid says as they fly into the arena, "Throw!"**

The Twins threw the piece of yak across the Hall, landing beautifully and hard on Dogsbreath, Snotlout's childhood former friend. The two had split apart after an incident involving Hiccup, the Twins, Gobber's peg leg, a drunkened Spitelout, and an undie-wearing boulder, and the Twins were looking for some payback.

"Oi!" He shrieked angrily as he rubbed the back of his head, while the Twins and Snotlout burst into laughter. Even Hiccup could not stop himself from chuckling slightly, though he did try desperately to hold himself back. Dogsbreath only grumbled and glared.

**Unfortunately, Gustav is too dazed by Astrid's beauty to throw, and Stormfly shoots at the barrel still under Gustav's arm. Astrid grunts, throwing an axe to scatter the spines away and jumps off of Stormfly, Gustav ready to catch her.**

**The view changes to once more show Gustav's imagination, with the romantic music as Astrid falls violently onto Gustav and Stormfly lands. Astrid grunts as she gets off of Gustav, who just says, "Hi," from the ground.**

The hall erupts with laughter at the awkward situation, while Astrid turns greener than a field of dragon-nip.

**"Okay," She comments, "Definitely creeped out."**

"Not as much as she is now!" Ruffnut sings, smirking at the puking Astrid.

**The scene switches to the Twins' hut as Tuffnut's voice fades in, "Yeah, I'm telling you, if you get five boars," the door opens, "you can stack them on top of each other. It's a four-boar stack- Aah!" Gustav and Fanghook are shown sitting outside, Gustav smiling, lovestruck. **

**"What's he smiling about?" Tuffnut questions. Ruffnut puts her hands on her waist, "I don't like it."**

**The two turn to each other as Tuffnut speaks, "Whatever he's selling, I'm not buying."**

**"Yeah!" Ruffnut agrees, "We don't want your cookies!"**

**At this, Gustav stands up. "Hey, guys! Astrid dropped me off, told me to.." he gestures to the hut, "help out around here."**

**"Yeah, so?" Ruffnut snaps, "What's it to us?"**

**"You know that big hole under your hut?" Gustav responds, "Filled it in."**

**"Oh, no." Tuffnut breathes, "He doesn't mean-"**

**Ruffnut gasps in absolute horror.**

Confused as to what that hole was and why it was under their hut, the villagers turn to the Twins, only to find them glaring at Gustav as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

**The Twins run to the hole, filled-in with rocks and boulders and Chicken on top. Gustav stands to the side, looking pleased. "Oh!" Tuffnut gasps, "He filled in the boar pit." Tuffnut sinks to his knees, trying to push the rocks away, "He filled in the boar pit!" **

Suddenly, they understand, and some even cry along with Tuffnut while others glare at Gustav.

**Gustav, realising his mistake, looks less than pleased as Tuffnut cries, "Who fills in a boar pit!?"**

**Tuffnut screams to the heavens, mourning his loss. "BOOARRR PIIITT!"**

A few snort at his theatrics, while others mourn with him in sympathy.

**Tuffnut collapses onto the grass, "What kind of sick monster would fill in a boar pit?" He sobs as Chicken pecks on his helmet, "It's a boar.."**

**Gustav moves to apologise, but Ruffnut knocks him to the side, "Hey, back off!" She sinks to her knees alongside the sobbing mass known as Tuffnut Thorston. "Haven't you done enough?" She snaps.**

"R-really sorry about that, guys." Gustav stammers, "Really!"

Hiccup couldn't help but find himself relating to Gustav, reminded of all those times when he was younger and trying to impress his Dad, only to mess it up.

**The scene cuts to Fanghook, Gustav, Fishlegs and Meatlug meditating on rocks in a pond. Fishlegs claps and Meatlug spills a fireball into the lake, heating it up and allowing steam to spread.**

Gothi nodded approvingly, causing Fishlegs to grin widely.

**"This.. This feels weird, Fishlegs." Gustav comments.**

**"Trust me, Gustav, this is exactly what you need," Fishlegs says, knowingly. "You're not centered, you're all over the place. Shh. Just breathe in, breath out. Focus on avoiding all conflict." **

"Ten yaks says he can't," Snotlout bets.

Ruffnut grabs the offer, "Sign me up!"

"Actually," Tuffnut grinned, "Make it twenty yaks!"

"You guys don't even have yaks!" Fishlegs had pointed out, only to be met with a "Shut it, Fishface!" from Snotlout.

**Fishlegs gives Meatlug a thumbs-up and continues, "Breath in, breathe out." Unfortunately, Fanghook breathes too much out and struggles to put out a bush he set on fire. Fanghook blows, but more fire comes out and makes it worse.**

**"Aah!" Fishlegs panics, "My topiaries!"**

Fanghook whimpers in apology while Gustav scratches under his chin.

"Huh," Snotlout blinks, "It wasn't his fault this time."

"Hey!" Gustav shouts.

**The scene changes to Snotlout, Gustav and Fanghook walking into Hiccup's hut, "I have had enough of you, Gustav!" **

**"Stay," He commands, "Stay!" His helmet is, noticeably, on fire.**

**"Uh, Snotlout," Gustav points, "Y-your head-"**

**"Stop! I'm not falling for that again." Snotlout begins walking out and Gustav shuts his mouth.**

**"Aaaah!" He screams in the distance, as a splash of water and Snotlout's sighs are heard offscreen.**

Spitelout facepalms and groans, while Snotlout grumbles grumpily. The rest of the hall snickers at his misfortune.

"What did you mean, 'again?'" Fishlegs asked.

"Shut it, Fishface!" Was his only reply.

**Gustav turns to face the inside of Hiccup's hut, "Hello?" He called, "Hiccup?" He starts to walk in.**

"Oh, no." Hiccup groaned.

"Oh, yes!" Gobber replied, a little too cheerily.

**Gustav runs into the hut and messes around, eventually knocking into the wall. Not wanting to knock the spare tails off again, he steps back and falls off the chest, which opens. "Huh," He picks up one of Hiccup's spare legs,**

"Hey!" Hiccup cries.

** "What have we here?"**

**Gustav begins imitating Hiccup, "Gee, Gustav! There must be a simple explanation for you being here!" Fanghook laughs.**

The hall erupts with laughter, with Snotlout actually in tears, "Oh, Cuz! He's got you pinned!"

"W-w-what?!" Hiccup sputters, indignantly, "I don't sound like that!" Toothless chortles as Hiccup stares at him, "Oh, come on, bud! Not you too!"

"Gotta admit," Astrid smirks, "That is pretty accurate, I'll have to take notes!"

"Astrid!" He clutched his stomach, pretending to be heartbroken, "How... could you!"

"That's karma for impersonating Stoick all these years!" Gobber laughs as he takes another swig of his mead.

"Gobber!"

"Wait, what?!" Stoick asks, the confusion obvious on his face.

Hiccup groaned, he didn't want to explain all that! Utterly defeated, he buried his head in his arms and fell back on his last line of defence, sarcasm. "T-t-that's a.. a truly flattering impersonation."

**"Well, yeah, Hiccup, because I'm awesome!" he posed, dramatically, "You are awesome, Gustav! Definitely ready to be a Dragon Rider." He hops on Hiccup's spare leg and trips, him accidentally stepping on Fanghook's tail with the metal leg. **

All the dragons in the hall winced, that had to hurt. Fanghook absentmindedly tucked his tail between his legs, while Gustav looked sheepish. From an outside point of view, he could see that he _was_ pretty clumsy.

**Fanghook lets out a burst of flame in pain, burning one of the spare tails on the wall. Gustav and Fanghook rush to put it out, "Oh, no. Oh, no."**

"Oh, no." The crowd repeats.

**Looking for a solution, Gustav's eyes land upon the Dragon Eye laying on a desk, shining from the fire behind it. "Oh, yes!" He cheers.**

"Oh, no." The Vikings say once more.

**Gustav grabs the Dragon Eye as Fanghook continues trying to put out the flames, and points it at a wall plastered with Hiccup's drawings. A map is shown, glowing yellow.**

**"Is that.." Gustav gasps, "A treasure map!? Oh, Fanghook!" He turns to his dragon, "We are so in!" Fanghook growls happily as the screen turns to black.**

"Something tells me that this won't end well," Heather comments, amused by Gustav's enthusiasm.

"Agreed," Throk says.

"It didn't," the Riders say in unison.

"Of course it didn't," The Larson parents deadpanned.

**The scene cuts to Gustav riding Fanghook, taking out a map and looking at an island. "That's it, Fanghook," he says, "just like the Dragon Eye said." Gustav rolls up the map, "All we gotta do now, is find the cave, grab the treasure, and guess who's gonna get his own hut on Dragon's Edge?" Fanghook roars happily in reply.**

**"Uh, Gustav!" The fly faster towards the island.**

"Attaboy, Gust-Egg!" Dagur crowed proudly, "Way to take initiative!"

Gustav beamed at the praise.

"Are you serious?" Fishlegs and Snotlout said in sync.

**They land as Gustav dismounts his dragon, and they both walk towards a cave. Suddenly, a loud rumbling stops them in their tracks. **

The Vikings jumped at the sudden sound, and paled.

**The ground quakes as a boulder falls from the ceiling. "Uh, I'm not worried." Gustav says to Fanghook, "Are you worried?" Fanghook snarled, worriedly. The two continue walking in. Gustav takes a look around the cave as Fanghook growls once more. They stop, it's too dark. **

**"Fanghook?" Gustav asks, "Flame up."**

**Fanghook ignites himself as Gustav checks the map, "Which way do we head?" Fanghook roars as a cracking from the ceiling is heard, Gustav stumbled as the ground shook, lighting the map on fire. Unable to put it out, it burns into ash on the ground.**

**"Oh, ah!" Gustav sighs.**

**He takes out the Dragon Eye, "Good thing we brought this along!"**

"Gustav!" his parents shrieked, the Vikings all turned to glare at him. Gustav chuckled nervously as he hid behind Fanghook, "What? It was an awesome plan!"

"Running off recklessly into danger is one thing, but we did not teach you to steal." Gustav's father lectured, "We will be talking about this at home."

"Aw, what?" Gustav complained, "This was ages ago! I paid the price."

**"Fanghook?" He asks, Fanghook lights a flame in his mouth, activating the Eye and showing the map. Gustav takes a look at it before turning, "I think.. we go this way." He walks as the sound of rocks cracking can be heard.**

**"It says it's just up this way." The ground quakes once more as he stumbles back, "Oh, whoops!" The ground beneath him cracks and splits apart.**

"Gustav!" The Vikings shrieked in worry.

**He nearly falls in, but is caught by Fanghook and pulled back.**

**"Whew," He gasps in relief, "Ah," but when he checks his tunic, he finds that the Dragon Eye has rolled off near the crack.**

**"Huh? No, no, no, no!" He reaches out to grab it and succeeds, but ends up hanging above the crack, "Whew," he sighs, "A little help here, Fanghook?"**

**He starts to slip off, "****A little help!?"**

**He falls off, but gets caught by someone and is pulled up. Unfortunately, that someone happens to be a very angry Hiccup.**

**"Hiccup!" Gustav greeted as Fanghook growled worriedly.**

All the other Riders and even a few Vikings winced and shivered, they knew better from experience than to make Hiccup mad. Snotlout rubbed his cheek, as he and the Twins remembered Hiccup punching him and losing all those teeth, and he wasn't even using his dominant hand!

**"I can explain.."**

**The scene changes to Gustav and the Gang sitting in the clubhouse while Hiccup paces towards the teen, "Of all the irresponsible, insubordinate-"**

His parents nodded as Gustav groaned, "Do I really have to listen to this again?"

Hiccup winced, his own words reminding him all too much of his father only few years ago. Even Stoick could see the similarities and visibly cringed, while Gobber sighed. Now this _really_ wouldn't end well.

"Sorry about this," Hiccup whispered. Gustav waved it off in acceptance.

**Tuffnut continued, "Don't forget idiotic, imbecilic, inane," as he listed the words with his fingers.**

**The camera switches to show Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs staring at him.**

The vikings turned to stare at Tuffnut as well. Who knew he had that advanced of a vocabulary? The Riders, used to this by now, didn't even blink.

Tuffnut shrugged at the surprised looks he received, and said at the same time as his onscreen self did,

**"What? I've heard a lot of words for stupid."**

The Vikings snorted, they bet he did.

**"I mean, come on, people say that more than my proper name!" He said as Ruffnut nodded and smiled.**

"You two look way too proud of that fact," Snotlout remarked.

"It's an an art," Ruffnut started.

"T'is an acquired taste," Tuffnut added as the Hall gave them incredulous stares and exasperated groans.

**Hiccup continued pacing around, "Of all those kinds of stunts you could have pulled, this was the worst." He turned to face Gustav, "Do you know what Dagur would do to get his hands on the Dragon Eye?"**

"Hey," a Viking leaned towards Dagur and asked, "What _would_ you do?"

"Invasion, threatening, kidnapping," Dagur shrugged nonchalantly, "Y'know, the usual."

**"I just thought if I came back here with the treasure, you guys would accept me!" Gustav explained.**

**"First of all," Hiccup started, "there is no treasure. Second of all, we've already been there, and that entire island is honeycombed with the most unstable caverns we've ever encountered!"**

**"I'm sorry," Gustav pleaded, "I just-" He was cut off, "You could've been killed, Gustav." Hiccup's hands went down to his eye level, "Fanghook could've been killed." He gestured to the Monstrous Nightmare, who crowed.**

**"Look, this isn't Berk, Gustav," Hiccup paced back, his tone softening ever so slightly, "The rules are different out here. You have to be smarter than this!"**

**"I just wanted to prove myself," Gustav crossed his arms, looking away.**

**"Oh, you have!" Hiccup continued, "You have proven that you are not responsible enough," He continued speaking as Gustav grew a defiant look on his face.**

Gobber sighed, he had seen that look all too many times on Hiccup's face. Stoick felt a chill down his spine, as that defiant, determined look seemed eerily familiar. Hiccup cringed at his words, and while he still agreed with his past self that Gustav could've thought more properly about this, maybe even asking him and the other Riders about the map first, he shouldn't have been so harsh.

Astrid, sensing Hiccup's discomfort, put her hand on his to show her support.

**"You're not mature enough, and you're not trustworthy enough to be one of us!" Gustav's look hardened and Hiccup finished, "Now, it's- it's been a long day. We all need some rest." He and the other Riders started walking out, "We'll talk about this in the morning." **

**As Hiccup walked out, he turned to look back at Gustav, whose head was down, and silently sighed to himself as he continued walking.**

**The scene changed to show Gustav and Fanghook sitting outside at night, next to a barrel of fish. As Gustav brooded, he tossed a fish to Fanghook who swallowed it up with fervor.**

**"Talk about it in the morning," He repeated Hiccup's words as he tossed another fish, "Like there's anything left to say!"**

Once again, Gobber, Stoick and Hiccup all cringed as they felt the familiarity creep up on them. Gobber and Toothless both sighed, remembering when Hiccup used to talk to them all the time about his problems. In Toothless's case, Hiccup still did on their midnight flights together.

Toothless and Fanghook turned to each other and nodded, they were always listening and would always be there to listen.

**Fanghook growled in agreement as Gustav vented out his frustrations, "That's right! It's not fair. I did everything they asked!" He stood up, "I shovelled dragon poop for two years without a single complaint!"**

The Vikings were stunned, they had never seen Gustav so angry before. In fact, they had never seen Gustav angry _period!  
_  
Gustav gagged at the memories of shovelling dragon poop, thank gosh for his new (and infinitely more awesome, might he add) role as the leader of the Auxiliary Riders.

**"For what?" He began pacing as he raised another fish into Fanghook's mouth, only to put it down, "So they can tell me I'm not good enough?"  
**

Gobber winced, that was another look he'd found all too familiar.

**His face turns from one of frustration, disbelief and hurt to one of determination as he puts his hands on his hips, "Well, I am good enough," he turns to face Fanghook, "We're good enough." He feeds Fanghook the fish and turns to pace again.**

**"And someday," he stopped, "they'll find that out, but it'll be too late."  
**

"Uh, what is he doing?" Snotlout half-asked, half-shouted.

Hiccup, having seen all the similarities between him and Gustav and knowing what he'd thought of doing many times before, whispered, "I think I have an idea on that."

**As if to answer Snotlout's question, the Gustav onscreen turns to mount his dragon, "We're leaving." He and Fanghook fly off into the moonlight. He hesitated for a moment, looking back at the Edge, before continuing his flight.**

"Knew it," Hiccup whispered to himself.

There was a second of silence and much blinking to be done, and then-

"GUSTAV!" Many of the Vikings shrieked, some in worry, and some in exasperation, while others groaned.

"-And then he got captured by me." Dagur added, putting the pieces together.

Gustav's parents were ready to faint, while the others looked at him in shock, some of the younger children even in awe, "Y-you got captured by Dagur?!" They asked in surprise.

"Yeah..." Gustav rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Not my most awesome plan.."

Both Fanghook and Dagur snorted, that was an understatement. Then, to everyone's utmost dismay, Gustav stood up and began posing dramatically in front of the kids, "You should've seen it! It was so heroic and cool!"

"We _are_ gonna see it, Gust-O!" Snotlout scoffed. Astrid whispered into Hiccup's ear, "Wow, Snotlout being the smart one? Ragnarok must be coming." Hiccup let out a choked laugh as he spilled his drink.

Snotlout, who didn't hear what she said but knew it was about him, scowled. "Shut up, Hiccstrid."

**Gustav spoke as he and Fanghook flew further away, "They're gonna be so sorry when they wake up in the morning and see that we're gone. Once they realise that we're missing, they're gonna be begging us to come back to Dragon's Edge."**

**"Those huts were lame anyway."**

The twins gasped dramatically, and Tuffnut let out a fake sob, "Have you no heart?!"

"Yeah!" Ruffnut agreed, "We worked our helmets off building those!"

Snotlout coughed, "Yak dung," he said, "You guys got Barf and Belch to help you build it, Hookfang didn't even raise a claw for mine! Your hut wasn't even that good anyway!" He ignored the horrendously hurt looks on their faces, "Now, my 'S', on the other hand.."

"No one cares about your 'S', Snotlout!" The other Riders all shouted in unison before looking at each other, blinking and laughing. Snotlout scowled at them, but not without his lips twitching into the tiniest of fond smiles that those who weren't paying attention would most certainly miss.

The Vikings who had seen the conversation looked to each other in bewilderment, not quite understanding the Riders' inside joke, while some of the more dirty minded vikings, such as Gobber, sniggered quietly.

**"I can't wait to get back to my-" Gustav is interrupted by a clatter as a net comes flying towards them, "Woah! Fanghook, dive!"**

The Vikings let out screams and gasps of worry, some calling out his name. The Larson parents paled and held on to each other for support.

**They dodged the first net, "Ha, ha! Missed!"**

**"Aah!" He screamed as another net launched and Fanghook let out a roar. The net caught them both, sending them falling and Gustav instinctively rushed to cut the ropes with a knife.**

"Nice reflexes, kid!" Dagur praised as Gustav looked at him with confusion. Heather took it upon herself to explain, "Most people would be too busy screaming to try and cut themselves free in a situation like that."

Gustav looked between the two and grinned widely, lapping up the praise before regaining himself, "Well, y'know," He said, checking his fingers nonchalantly, "It's all part of the job."

The Vikings and their dragons rolled their eyes as one, but smiled nonetheless. A few chuckles could be heard, amused by his antics.

**Fanghook let out a worried snarl as Gustav screamed, the two about to fall into the savage seas, "Aaah!"**

**The scene changes to Dagur stabbing Gustav's knife into the wooden frame of a boat, "Ha, Ha!" Savage laughed, Dagur looking utterly peeved, "We captured a Dragon Rider!"**

**Dagur's mood shifted quickly as he laughed, turning towards Savage and walking with him, "Oooh, Which one is it? Oh, I sure hope it's brother Hiccup."**

"Nice to know that you were hoping for me," Hiccup said, dryly and amused. Dagur chuckled, "Well, of course! You're my little brother, after all!"

The Vikings, not really knowing about their so-called 'Brotherhood', were obviously confused as Stoick raised an eyebrow. The green-eyed disaster triplets, as in, Hiccup, Dagur, and Heather, giggled at their expressions. "They just like to call each other that, guys." Heather explained with a chuckle.

A resounding "Ooh..." was heard from the crowd, though some were left to wonder, how did that happen?

**"Or, I suppose the girl would work too." Dagur shrugged.**

**"Which girl?"**

**"There's more than one?"**

"Oh, for the love of-" Ruffnut snarled and nearly pulled her braids out, "Why do people keep thinking I'm a guy?!"

"It had to be your muscles, babe," Snotlout tried flirting again, "You're so strong and-"

He was interrupted by Fishlegs, "I don't think you look like a guy," he said, firmly.

**Dagur pushed his way through a crowd of chattering Berserkers, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who this supposed 'Rider' was. Gustav sat with his arms crossed as Fanghook stood in a cage, "This is not one of Hiccup's Dragon Riders!" Dagur exclaimed, pushing Savage aside. **

**"Who are you?" He approached the boy.**

**"Larson," He said bravely, "Gustav Larson, and that's all you're getting out of me." He crossed his arms once again.**

**"Hmm," Dagur scratched his beard, "Fine, feed him to the eels."**

The Vikings paled, and some turned to glare at Dagur, who chuckled and shrugged nervously.

**"But I know Hiccup," Gustav panicked and said quickly as he was dragged away by the Berserkers, "I know the Dragon Riders and I have information!" They plopped him down on the deck as an eel jumped behind. **

All the dragons instinctively coiled and whimpered as they spotted the eel, their riders and owners giving them comforting belly rubs and scratches.

**"Oh?" Dagur questions, walking towards Gustav and grabbing him by the face, "What kind of information?"**

**"I can get you the Dragon Eye," Gustav replied.**

Groans could be heard throughout the hall. No matter what, you should never give out information to the enemy!

**"And what's the Dragon Eye?" Dagur asked, staring him in the face.**

**"That," Gustav pointed as Dagur let go of his face, "That's the Dragon Eye." Dagur blinked and turned his head towards a drawing of the Eye, "Oh!" He giggled madly to himself.**

**The scene changes to Gustav and Dagur, sitting at a table and Gustav feasting on the food. Gustav smacked his lips as he ate, and tossed a chicken for Fanghook to eat. He drank from a rather large cup before setting it down with a belch.**

"Where'd you get all that food?" Heather asked, knowing how small the rations given on the ships were and the fact that Dagur would never share his food with anyone, much less a prisoner being treated like a guest.

"Eh," Dagur shrugged, "Pillaged it from somewhere, don't remember."

The Vikings' stomaches growled at seeing all that food, and there was suddenly a great deal more of food being summoned by the Witch's magic than there was before.

Tuffnut gasped, horrified at the mass chicken-eating before him, and covered his beloved Chicken's eyes. "Have you all no shame?"

**"So," Dagur starts, Savage standing guard behind him, "Are you enjoying your meal?" ****Gustav hums in affirmation as Dagur continues, "Good," he begins cutting into his own food, repeating the "Good"s several times before continuing, "So, here's the plan. We'll draw Hiccup and the Night Fury into the open, neutralise the other Riders," He stabbed his knife into the table, "and seize the Dragon Eye by lethal force."**

"As if there's any other force," Snotlout, Throk, Dagur and a few other Vikings say to the eye-rolls of the rest.

**"As if there's any other force," Dagur states plainly, "I mean, really, come on."**

Blinks ran rampant.

**"Then the Dragon Eye will be mine."**

**Gustav leans back into his chair, "Yeah, that's one way to do it, and you might get the Dragon Eye," he leans forward, resting his elbow on the table with his head floating nonchalantly above, "Or Hiccup could crush you just like every other time you faced off against him."**

Snickers ran through the hall at his comment. A few vikings, the Berserkers included, were impressed as his boldness, while others were exasperated as he tested the waters of Dagur's patience.

**Savage raised his sword as Dagur held him back, "Mm, you have a better idea, Gustav?" Savage lowers his sword.**

**Gustav points, "Can you hand me the sauce, please?"**

The snickers turned into laughter.

**"I do," He states firmly as he was handed the sauce and promptly poured it onto his meal, "One that will guarantee Hiccup delivers the Dragon Eye right to us."**

Many glares were sent towards the boy. Though they were at peace with the Berserkers now, back then, they were the enemy and Gustav was a good as a traitor! Dagur, noticing this, glared at them all with twice the ferocity, "He's not a traitor," Dagur started, "He had a plan, he tricked me! ME!" Dagur gestured to himself.

"Doesn't seem so hard to do," Snotlout whispered to himself. At Dagur's proclamation, many of the Vikings calmed down and turned back to the screen, while some turned their glares to Dagur instead, to which Mala, Heather and the Riders returned to defend him, and others looked at Gustav inquiringly.

**"More mutton thigh, friend?" Dagur smiles. ****Gustav hums in agreement before stabbing a utensil into a cooked chicken.**

Tuffnut was absolutely mortified, clutching Chicken in his hands as she squawked in fear. "H-how.. dare you!" He sobbed, covering her eyes once more.

**The scene changes to Hiccup and Toothless landing in the Arena after a search, "Anything?" He asked the other Riders, Astrid and Snotlout have already landed.**

Gustav leaned in, curious as to what their reactions to him leaving were.

**"I checked the Clubhouse, your hut, even the stables!" Astrid replies, "He's not there." The Twins and Fishlegs land as well, "Nothing else is on fire around here," Fishlegs reports, "so he must be gone."**

Gustav raised his hands, gesturing incredulously, "Oh, come on!"

The Vikings, Fishlegs' parents especially, were quite surprised. Since when could Fishlegs get so rude? Was he only like that with his friends? A few of them hollered and cheered, proud that Fishlegs had grown some sort of a backbone. Fishlegs blushed as a villager slapped him on the back.

**"Well, we have to find him." Hiccup says.**

**"Or.." Tuffnut rubs his chin as Ruffnut smiles, "Do we?"**

**"Yeah," Snotlout walks up, "Why are we worried? Shouldn't we be celebrating the fact that he's gone?"**

Ouch. That _hurt_. That stung far more than it needed to. Snotlout was supposed to be his hero! Gustav felt a hot wave of anger rush over him, and he and Fanghook gave Snotlout a steely glare. Celebrating, huh? The other Vikings also glared at Snotlout, who shrivelled under everyone's gaze. Gustav was a nuisance, that much was true, but they had also learned from their mistakes with Hiccup not to treat anyone that badly ever again. A few moments passed before all Helheim broke loose, demanding justice, and the eerie silence was broken.

"Celebrating?!" "What is wrong with you?" "How dare you speak like that!"

"SNOTLOUT!" Spitelout bellowed, his voice thundering over the rest, "What-"

"Everyone, QUIET!" Hiccup shrieked, trying to calm everyone down as Toothless shot a blast on the ground. Gustav was stunned, and his smile at being defended was enough to be about the size of a Terror! Silence swept through the hall, as Snotlout slowly emerged from his hiding spot behind Hookfang. "This was a year ago," Hiccup spoke, "and yelling at him for this isn't going to help anyone! Snotlout has, shockingly, changed since then."

Gustav hardened his glare, as did many other Vikings, as Snotlout stepped towards him. "Look," He started, "I'm a muttonhead, alright?" He scowled at the nods sent his way, "But that doesn't change the fact that I said that about you, so I guess what I'm trying to say is.." He paused, and made an odd face as if he was holding a particularly large sneeze, "I'm sorry."

Gustav was shocked, the Dragons stunned, and the other Vikings astonished! Snotlout Jorgenson had.. sincerely apologised? It was unheard of! It was a sign of Ragnarok! It was.. heartwarming. Hiccup smiled as Snotlout offered a handshake in apology. Gustav stared at his hand before taking it, and accepting his apology with a joyful smirk.

**"Not until we know he's safe." Hiccup replies.**

**"Well," Ruffnut starts, "We could ask Fanghook."**

**"And, Ruffnut," Snotlout snaps back, "How do you supposed we do that?"**

"Looks like someone's been spendin' too much time with Hiccup," Gobber whispered to Stoick and Spitelout as they nodded in agreement, "The sarcasm's spreading!"

**"Turn around."**

**Snotlout turns around to see Fanghook landing down, screeching in worry for his rider. Toothless runs towards him, the two sniffing each other before communicating. "Fanghook," Tuffnut walks towards them, "Where's Gustav, boy? Where's Gustav?"**

**A few moments pass as Fanghook groans and slowly shakes his head. Tuffnut yells in frustration and turns around, "Argh! He's not talking, you guys. He's completely shut down, typical." He crosses his arms and walks off as Fanghook snarls in the background.**

"Since when did you speak Dragonese?" Snotlout scoffed. The other Vikings rolled their eyes at Tuffnut's antics, while the Dragons gave low roars in annoyance. A few of the more observant Vikings in the hall noticed the scroll attached to Fanghook's horn, and leaned in with curiosity.

**"Hey, hey, Fanghook," Hiccup soothes as he walks towards the dragon, "Hey, it's okay." Fanghook continues shaking and snarling, "Easy, boy, easy."**

The Vikings smiled. That was Hiccup, alright. He could soothe any dragon. Some even bet that he could soothe a Whispering Death if he wanted to. The dragons themselves felt calmer at the sound of Hiccup's voice, the boy held far too much sway over them.

**Hiccup kneels down and holds Fanghook's head in his hands to take a look, "Well, doesn't look like he's injured," he says as Fishlegs walked towards them, "But he's definitely upset," The camera zooms in on Fishlegs' face as his points towards the scroll, "You guys, look."**

**The camera cuts to Fanghook's head, and zooms in on the scroll attached to his horn. **

Many of the Vikings "Oohh"ed at the observation, and were pretty curious as to what it said.

**Hiccup takes the scroll and reads, "Dagur. He wants to make a trade. The Dragon Eye.." his voice cracked, "for Gustav."**

The Vikings felt a pang in their chests as they heard Hiccup's voice crack, the expression he bore was pained and genuine. Gustav felt guilty for making Hiccup worry so much.

**The scene changes to Hiccup packing things into Toothless' saddlebag as the other Riders approach. **

**"I don't like this, Hiccup." Astrid speaks as she put her hands on her waist.**

**"Well, we have no choice."**

**"You sure we have no choice?" Tuffnut asked, his eyes shifting around, "Like, none? Zip? Zilch?"**

Glares and incredulous looks were sent Tuffnut's way as he watched the screen, oblivious to the heads turned towards him.

Coincidentally, there was a Zippleback in the hall whose names were Zip and Zilch, and they raised their heads in confusion as they heard their names being called. Their owner chuckled upon seeing their reactions, and scratched their chins as they laid back down to sleep.

**Hiccup turned to face them, "This is all my fault anyway."**

The Vikings sighed, Astrid especially. He always found a way to blame himself somehow, "You can't blame yourself for everything, Hiccup."

"But it was my fault!" Hiccup retorted, "If I wasn't so harsh on him, he never would've left in the middle of the night!"

"Yeah," Snotlout started, "and you had a good reason to be harsh, he almost got himself killed!"

Gustav's guilt immediately grew at Hiccup's words, and hesitantly approached him, "Dude, look, you already apologised, and it was my fault too! I was being stupid."

**"_Ninguno_?" Tuffnut speaks in spanish.**

Many Vikings raised their eyebrows while others blinked, what language was that? Fishlegs leaned towards Tuffnut and asked, "Hey, when did you learn to speak Spanish?"

The other Riders looked at each other before turning to Tuffnut. Come to think of it, why hadn't they ever asked how Tuffnut knew so many languages? They all wondered this, and not even Hiccup knew as many languages as Tuffnut did! Tuffnut leaned back in his chair, acting nonchalant, as he casually stretched his fingers, "Oh, my dear _compadre_, t'is a dangerous question. You see, I-"

"Tuff stole a language dictionary from Hiccup's room," Ruffnut clarified as Tuffnut frowned, clearly not appreciating his theatrics being interrupted as Snotlout snickered.

"Hey!" Hiccup turned to glare at the Twins, "So that's where that went, I've been looking for it forever!"

"Wait, you had a language dictionary?" Astrid asked, "How? When? Why?"

Hiccup shrugged, "Got it from _Johann_.." He drawled out the name and narrowed his eyes as if it were a dirty word, "..a few years back during one of his visits. I got bored of reading the same books over and over again."

The villagers were not all that surprised that Tuffnut had stolen a book from the young heir, but were even more surprised that he had stolen a _book_ and had _read_ it. What other secrets were the Twins hiding? And what was that all about when Hiccup drawled Johann's name?

**"I never even gave the kid a chance," Hiccup says as he stood up, grasping the Dragon Eye in his hands.**

**"_Ni portugal_?"**

**"Tuff, that's really not helping at all."**

**"Yeah."**

**"If I wasn't so busy tinkering with this thing," He held up the Eye, "I don't know, maybe I could've kept him busy."**

Mrs Larson snorted and muttered under her breath, "Nobody can keep Gustav busy."

**"Uh, yeah," Fishlegs started, "Nobody can keep Gustav busy."**

This earned a few chuckles around the hall as Mrs Larson blinked.

**Astrid walked forwards as Hiccup mounted Toothless, "At least let us back you up out there."**

**"Dagur was very clear, I have to come alone. We don't know what he'll do to Gustav if I don't follow his demands to the letter. No, we can't risk it."**

The Vikings groaned, of_ course_ he had to come alone!

**Astrid's gaze softened as she lowered her arms. "I'll be careful," Hiccup states, "I promise." He, Fanghook and Toothless take off, leaving the Riders behind on the Edge.**

**The scene cuts to the Ship Graveyard, panning towards Dagur's boat. The dragons and the Rider are spotted by Savage, "There!" He points. Toothless gives a roar as the three land on the ship, Gustav running towards his dragon. "Fanghook!" He cheers as the two reunite, "Oh, I was worried about you, boy."**

The vikings smiled at how close the two were. Gustav had really bonded well with his dragon, and the fact that he was a Monstrous Nightmare made that all the more impressive. Fanghook crooned as he let Gustav scratch the sweet-spot under his horns.

**"Aww," Dagur mocked, "dragon and Dragon Rider love." His face turns to one of utmost disgust, "Makes me want to hurl. Blech!"**

Dagur laughed at his onscreen self, oh how things have changed! He scratched Sleuther under his chin as the dragon gave a content snarl. He loved his dragons, Shattermaster and Sleuther were the second-best things to happen to him!

"My, my." Mala observed, "You've certainly changed for the better."

"You can say that again," Heather agreed with a smile.

**Toothless snarled as the Berserkers raised their weapons, ready to strike.**

The Vikings gasped and paled, while others snarled dangerously at the screen, grasping their weapons.

**"Yeah, I see 'em, bud." Hiccup responds, "Gustav, are you okay?"**

**Gustav nodded with a smile in response as Dagur shoved him aside to walk forwards, Hiccup held out his hand. "That's close enough, Dagur."**

**"Oh," Dagur scoffed, "Wow! Where's the trust, after all we've been through together?" He gestured as Hiccup stared plainly, his eyes narrowing, "No? Nothing? No.. hiccupy barbs, quips, snappy comebacks? But I really love those." He continued talking as he put his hands on his waist, "We've developed such a nice shorthand, you and I."**

The Vikings, despite their worry, fear and anger, rolled their eyes at Dagur's blabbering. "Get on with it, already!" Spitelout yelled.

**"Dagur, let's just get on with this." Hiccup states as Toothless growled, "Send them over."  
**

**"You first!" Dagur pointed.**

**Hiccup's expression hardened as Toothless growled, the camera panning from them to Dagur, Fanghook and Gustav, "You have no choice," Dagur started, "One false move and my men will take out you, the Night Fury, and the kid! So roll it over and I'll let him go."**

**Hiccup looked over to Gustav, who nodded. He dismounted Toothless and rolled the Dragon Eye over. Dagur picked up the eye and looked it over, "Oh, it-it really is one beautiful artifact," Dagur held it to his face to look through it as if it were a telescope, "And I hear it can be very useful to those who possess it? Hmm? Is that true?"**

Heather chuckled at her brother's enthusiasm, he was like a child when it came to these sorts of things.

**"Gustav, let's go, it's okay." Hiccup walked forwards as Toothless roared, spreading his wings out.  
**

**Gustav stopped for a moment, hesitating and looking back towards Dagur, "Yeah, about that, Hiccup.." He scratched the back of his head, "I've been treated much better by these guys than I ever was treated by you and the Dragon Riders." He crossed his arms as Dagur laughed, "And the plot thickens!" He says in a singsong voice.**

The Vikings all gasped, Gustav had joined the Berserkers! Already forgetting for a moment what Dagur told them about this being a plan to trick him, many Vikings turned as one to glare at Gustav, who hid behind Dagur.

**Hiccup is taken aback for a moment before warning, "Gustav.."**

**"You could've given me a chance, you know?" Gustav says with his arms crossed, "All you guys ever did was tell me I wasn't good enough, tell me I didn't belong." Gustav paused, "Well, I belong here."**

The Riders shrank guiltily as the conversation passed.

**"Gustav," Hiccup walked over as Toothless growled, "You have no idea what you're getting into."**

**"Oh, yes, I do, Hiccup. I know exactly what I'm doing."**

**Hiccup narrowed his eyes as Dagur sung, "Awkward! Well, I'd say your work is finished here, brother," He turned to walk as he held his hands behind his back, "Ordinarily, this is where I would double-cross you and fill you full of arrows, but the kid is squeamish. He made me promise to let you go," He stood beside Gustav, "and in return, he's gonna take me to a treasure."**

Suddenly, it clicked. Many of the Vikings' eyes widened as they began to realise Gustav's plan. "And that's when I figured out what he was doing," Hiccup smiled as he gave Gustav a high-five, the latter looking incredibly proud and smug at his own brilliant idea.

Dagur groaned and shook his head, "I can't believe I believed that!"

**"That's right, Hiccup. We have the Dragon Eye and Fanghook's fire, and you know what that means." He looked at smug as he was in real life as Fanghook growled and the camera zoomed in on his face, "Untold treasure awaits."**

**Hiccup, eyes widening slightly as he caught on and realised Gustav's plan, decided to play along as he turned to mount Toothless, who growled. "You are going to regret this," he warned.**

**"I don't think so, Hiccup." Gustav responded, crossing his arms as he and Dagur looked triumphant. Hiccup and Toothless flew away from the ship, Hiccup sneaking a second glance back as Gustav and Fanghook played.**

**"You know," Dagur says to Savage, "I'm actually gonna feel bad when I kill this kid."**

The Vikings, Gustav included, paled as he turned to Dagur, "You were gonna kill me?!"

"Yeah, sorry." Dagur shrugged, "What did you expect? Keeping you imprisoned forever?"

Gustav shuddered, "Yeah.. kinda.."

"Eh, not exactly my style. Besides, it's a waste of resources, no offense, Gusterama."

"None taken."

**The scene cuts to reveal the same island that Gustav had gone to before, Gustav halting in front of the cave entrance, "This is it."**

**Dagur approached him impatiently, "Why are we stopping?"**

**"No reason," Gustav shrugged, "I was just kind of impressed that you trusted your men enough to show them exactly where the treasure is hidden," He then added in a quieter tone, "Especially when there's so much of it."**

"Clever," Heather complimented. Nearly everyone in the hall was impressed with Gustav's cunning.

**Dagur thought about it, and ordered his men, "Stay here."**

**"Why?" Savage questioned.**

**Dagur, growing irritated, turned to face him with mock politeness, "Oh, uh, let's see, uh.. I don't know, maybe because.." He shouted the next few words, "I SAID SO!?"**

The Vikings all flinched as they heard Dagur's shout, a few of them even instinctively covering their ears.

"That's so loud!" Snotlout complained as Dagur laughed at their reactions.

**Dagur stormed off as Savage took a moment to regain his composure, feigning enthusiastic support. "Oh, good idea, sir!" He praised, "We'll stay here."**

**Dagur handed Gustav the Eye as he turned to his dragon, "Fanghook, slow burn."**

**Fanghook gave a small, but by no means slow burn as the map lit up and Gustav raised it against a rock.**

**"Ah, I see. You outdid yourself, Hiccup," Dagur smiles, "I love this thing." He walked towards Gustav, looking at the map and entering the cave. The three walked in and then stopped as loud rumbling was heard and rocks from the ceiling fell.**

**"Uh, so.. uh," Dagur stuttered, "Does-Does that happen a lot?"**

"Woah, Dagur can stutter?" The Twins smirked. They were quickly silenced by the glares of the Berserker siblings and Mala.

**"You get used to it."**

**They continued walking for a few moments before Dagur complained, "Are we there yet?"**

Sleuther rolled his eyes, Dagur always said that when they were on long flights.

**"We're close, _very_ close."**

**"Good, that's what I wanted to hear." Dagur chuckles as he approaches Gustav holding the Eye. Suddenly, Gustav turned around, aiming the light at Dagur's eyes. Dagur shrieked and stumbled back, blinded by the Dragon Eye's light.**

**"Oh," He gasped, "Bright light, bright light, bright light!"**

The Vikings had to admit, they were extremely impressed by Gustav's ingenuity. A few closed their eyes at the sudden change in lighting.

**"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Dagur stumbled back as he heard more rumbling, seeing the ground splitting under him. Dagur laughed as the caverns failed to swallow him whole, and Gustav hid as he slithered around. **

**"Gotcha!" Dagur cheered, only to lose his triumphant smile and he heard a voice from behind, ****"No, we've got you." The camera pans to revealed Hiccup, Toothless and Fanghook standing behind Dagur, "Good work, Gustav."**

The hall cheered as one, patting Hiccup and Gustav on the backs as Stoick yelled, "That's my boy!"

**Gustav gave a nervous nod as Hiccup continued, "Oh, what's the matter, Dagur? No barbs, no comebacks?" Hiccup mocked, "I thought we had a shorthand, I thought you loved that stuff!"**

Dagur, despite now being the Riders' friend now, grumbled while the others laughed at the sheer irony of Hiccup's statement. His mood changed significantly as he realised something, and turned to Hiccup, "Daw, Brother! You remembered what I said!"

"Well, of course," Hiccup stood up and bowed like a gentleman, "It was an important situation, after all!"

**Dagur turned around quickly and snatched the Dragon Eye from Gustav's hands, Gustav stumbling back into the dragons' side. Dagur laughed maniacally as he tossed the Eye around in his hands.**

**"Dagur, you hand over the Dragon Eye." Hiccup demanded.**

**"I don't think so!" Dagur said as he waved the Eye around.**

**"I'm not asking," Hiccup states as Toothless shot a blast at the ground, opening a large gash. **

**"Oh," Dagur smirked, "It's a long way down, isn't it?"**

**Toothless shot another blast as Dagur dodged and Hiccup spoke, "Dagur, you've got nowhere to go." Toothless shot another blast, "It's over."**

**"It's over? Really?" Dagur held the Eye in front of him as he dropped it into the hole, "Whoops!"**

The Vikings gasped in horror.

**"Oh, no!" Gustav hurried to grab it, "Ah!"**

**"Gustav!" Hiccup cried as he fell into the hole, Dagur laughed and got away.**

"GUSTAV!" The Vikings shrieked in concern.

The children screamed for the safety of their friend, as the adults gasped. The Larson parents were hyperventilating by now and had taken to holding each other for support, and a few Vikings even fainted.

**"Come here," Gustav dived as he and the Eye continued falling among the rocks, he snatched the Eye and cheered, "Got it!" He continued falling as Hiccup and Toothless flew down, "Hiccup!"**

**"There, Toothless!"**

**Toothless dived down before spreading his wings to slow himself down, Hiccup reach out and grabbed Gustav's arm. "We got you, Gustav," he says as he helped Gustav get on Toothless, "Let's get out of here."**

The Vikings cheered, though that cheer was cut short when...

**..The group made to fly off before getting hit by a boulder and falling, "Aaaah!" Hiccup screamed, "Toothless!" The dragon roared in response, "Don't worry, bud!" Hiccup dived towards the dragon, "Hang on, bud!" After a while of struggling, Hiccup managed to mount Toothless and the two hovered, just inches away from crashing to their deaths.**

**"I'm gonna have to come up with something in case that happens to us again." They dived down to grab Gustav, who screamed until he was caught. "Fanghook!" He chirped, "Yeah!" The cave continued to rumble, "Thanks, boy." The group flew out to a different part of the cave as they let out sighs of relief.**

**"You okay?" Hiccup asked.**

**"Yeah. Hiccup, I'm really sorry!"**

**"I'm sorry too, Gustav." The cave rumbled again as Hiccup turned, "You're still irresponsible, immature and reckless, but the way you handled yourself with Dagur, maybe you do have what it takes to be a Dragon Rider.. someday."**

**"Someday?" Gustav asked, "I will take someday!"**

Gustav cheered, knowing that 'someday' had already come now that he was the leader of Astrid's Auxiliary Riders. He smiled at his team, who smiled fondly back. The boy was still very reckless and immature, but he was, admittedly, a great leader.

**The cave rumbled as the dragons growled, "What do you say you and me find a way out of here?" Hiccup asked. Fanghook trotted forwards as he and Gustav flew out, revealing a chest shining in the sunlight.**

"Ooooo.." The Vikings perked in curiosity.

"So, there was a treasure!" Gustav exclaimed, "I was right!"

Snotlout took the opportunity to raise his hand first, "I call dibs!"

"You can't call dibs on that treasure, moron!" Astrid scolded with a whisper so that nobody could hear her, knowing it would be explained later, "It was a Dragon Eye lens, remember?"

**Hiccup, shocked, dismounted Toothless as he opened the chest and gasped, "What the Thor is this?" **

"What?" "What is it?" The Vikings asked and murmured. Hiccup shrugged as he gestured back at the screen.

**He closed the chest and ran back to Toothless, "Let's go, bud."**

**The scene changes to Gustav, Fanghook and all the Riders standing back at the Edge. The sky is pink with a few hints of orange, a clear sign of sunset. Astrid spoke, "Gustav, I-"**

**"Uh-uh," Gustav placed a finger on her lips, "Stop right there, sweets."**

Astrid shot Gustav a menacing glare as Snotlout gaped at him. If he did that, he would be killed!

**Astrid looked back incredulously, annoyed and barely holding in her anger as Gustav continued to speak, "I can't stay, my mom would kill me." Gustav shook his head, "She usually notices I've been gone after about three days."**

"Ugh," Gustav groaned, "I got the worst lecture when I came home."

"You didn't even leave a note!" Mrs Larson shrieked, "I was worried sick!"

**Gustav walked towards his dragon while Astrid stared in disbelief, "Alright, Fanghook, let's go."**

**"You take care, babe!" He called, "Don't worry, Gustav will be back soon!"**

Hiccup held Astrid back from breaking Gustav's wrist, as the Vikings breathed a sigh of relief at him going back to Berk. Even on screen, Gustav was incredibly stressful.

**Hiccup walks forwards with the chest in his hands as Astrid asked, "What's that?"**

**"Oh, just something I found at the bottom of that cave," Hiccup opened the chest as took the 'treasure' out for the rest of the gang to see. **

**"Oh," Fishlegs chirped, "A new lens!"**

Murmurs, questions and theories rippled through the hall. A new Dragon Eye lens? What, were they just scattered around the world?

**"Yeah, there was treasure in those caves after all. The Dragon Eye was giving us clues on how to find it all along, we just weren't look in the right place."**

**"And if there's one of these out there," Fishlegs started, "There means there has to be more." Fishlegs cheered like a fangirl as Astrid spoke up, "Huh, and to think, we never would've found that without Gustav."**

"Oh, yeah!" Gustav cheered before pumping his fist in the air, "Uh-huh, you're welcome! Ah, Gustav!" This earned a few amused chuckles from the crowd as Dagur ruffled his hair, Fanghook snarling happily.

**"Alright, awesome!" Hiccup smiled, "So let's just tell Gustav."**

**"No! No, no, no!" The Riders pleaded and groaned.**

Chuckles and laughter rang out in the hall, while others joined in on the "No!"-ing.

**The gang turned around to face Gustav and Fanghook, waving goodbye as the two flew away.**

**The screen cut to black.**

The Vikings got up and stretched themselves while the screen slowly faded to its usual shining golden-white colour. The villagers talked amongst themselves, discussing the events that had unfolded on screen, while the Larsons hugged and decided to have a quick talk with one another.

"Gustav," Mrs Larson started, "I know we've never been the most.." She grimaced, "..a_ttentive_ family on Berk to you, but-"

"I know," Gustav smiled, before hugging his parents again, "You don't have to tell me, I love you guys, too!"

"You were so brave, son!" Gustav's father cheered, hoisting Gustav up so he could sit on his shoulder, "We're so proud of you!"

Hiccup smiled at the happy family as Astrid stood beside him. Suddenly, several clouds of smoke started to form and gathered around in the middle of the Great Hall. The clouds dispersed, revealing the Witch once again. She cleared her throat, as the Vikings finished talking and turned to look at her.

"So," She clapped her hands together, "Did you like it? Do you want to continue?" She asked.

"YES!" The Vikings all said at once.

The Witch smiled, "I'll let you all talk a little while more before the next episode starts, once you're ready, you may all sit down and the screen will start again!" and with that, the Witch disappeared once more as she left the Vikings to their own devices.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! I hope this was good and up-to-standard. Next episode they will react to is Tone-Death! A.k.a, the episode where the Riders sing and try to raise Garff! Stay tuned, folks. The fun has just begun...**


	3. Tone Death

**Oh my God! Okay, wow, thank you for all the reviews and episode requests! Holy Jesus, the support's amazing! Anywho, sorry for the late chapter. School, exams, and just life in general is a butt. I have like, a mountain of homework to get through.**

**Orangecat64: AAAA TY for the review! Dude, I _love_ "Snoggletog Showdown" fghtjhkugfdlfr- it's one of my favourite fics. Haha, yeah, Hiccup is many things, but a singer is not one of them. Yeah, I'll definitely do "The Zippleback Experience" at some point.**

**Anywho, enjoy these reactions to "Tone Death"!**

* * *

**Original episode was written by Art Brown and ****Douglas Sloan, directed by Robert Briggs**

* * *

As the Witch vanished once again, the Vikings continued their discussions and murmurs with each other. Many of the Vikings were still quite awe-struck at the Witch's exit, glancing at the spot where she vanished, and back at the floating screen in the front of the Hall, where it shone bright and golden-white. Stoick especially, was unable to wrap his head around the Witch's magical prowess, while Gothi seemed completely unphased by it all.

The Riders, like many of the other Vikings, had taken to discussing what they had all just witnessed. The moving images, of course, not the Witch.

"Dudes, did you see how handsome I looked up there?" Snotlout had taken to flexing his muscles and boasting, "It was like a weird mirror, but cooler!"

"Yeah, how unfortunate," Astrid snarked, "As if _one_ Snotlout wasn't enough suffering to deal with."

"Shut up, Astrid." He had wanted to continue, saying, 'You're just jealous of my huge muscles!', but was saved from a cruel and horrible death-by-Astrid's-axe as he was interrupted by the voice of the Witch coming from behind him.

"Boo!"

"AAARGH!" Snotlout tried to yelp, jumping back, though no sound came from him as the Witch had sealed his lips shut with her magic.

"Just a heads' up before I disappear again, else I irritate the Readers with my continued presence," The Witch turned to face the Riders, ignoring their confused expressions at that last part, "The next adventure that I will be showing everyone will include Death Songs, so be warned."

Immediately, the Riders gasped, and turned to face each other, exchanging glances, before turning back to face the Witch. A Death Song?! Being displayed in the Great Hall?! The Hall that held nearly every dragon on Berk?! Had the Witch gone mad?! Well, it _was_ a Witch, so there was no surprise there.

Sensing their worry, the gang's dragons moved closer, crooning as a show of comfort while wondering what on Midgard was going on, having not heard the conversation. The Witch, also sensing their worry, continued, "I have managed to weaken the Death Song's melodious tune on the screen with my magic," The Riders sighed with relief, only to tense with her next words, "though I am not quite sure it'll work too well. The dragons won't be helplessly lured to the screen, but they will feel _some_ sort of attraction to it, and the less intelligent ones may try to fly or walk towards it like moths to a flame."

The Riders grimaced, getting an idea as to what the Witch wanted them to do, as the Witch looked at them expectantly, "I trust that you may mention this to the others when the time comes and keep the dragons from blocking the screen?"

The gang nodded as the Witch gave them a smile.

"Wait," Snotlout demanded, "why do we have to do this? Don't you have magic?"

"Yeah," Fishlegs asked, "why can't you just tell everyone yourself?"

Too late, the Witch was already gone as the Riders groaned. This was going to be a 'Fun' job. The Twins were quite miffed that they would have to be the ones _preventing_ the upcoming chaos rather than _creating_ it.

The intermission ended soon after, all of the Vikings having finished their discussions and sitting back down as the screen began to whirl once more.

**The screen fades from black to reveal the night sky; it's a full moon. The camera then pans to reveal a small collection of even smaller islands as a loud screeching is heard, and Hiccup and Toothless fly into view.**

**"Okay, gang!" He calls, "Stay with your teammate and lock down your specific island."**

**The camera cuts to reveal the rest of the Dragon Riders as Hiccup speaks, "This Dragon Hunter is sneaky,"**

**The camera reveals Heather and Windshear in the team as well, as Fishlegs explains for Hiccup, "He comes in, transfers his cargo, and slips out under the cover of darkness."**

"Oooo-hoo-hoo!" Dagur squealed with a mix of delight at seeing his sister onscreen, and curiosity as to what she did while she was with the Dragon Riders, "Finally, I get to see some of the stuff you did!"

Heather smirked, "Why so curious, anyway? I told you most of the stuff we did."

Dagur pouted, "Yeah, but I never _saw_ any of it!"

**The camera zooms in on Fishlegs, "Very mysterious."**

**"Very boring," Snotlout remarks as the camera switches to him and Hookfang, "Can we get to it?"**

Fishlegs huffed as the others rolled their eyes. Stoick facepalmed, that was Spitelout's son, alright.

**As the team flies towards the islands, Snotlout and Hookfang fly ahead next to Hiccup and Toothless.**

**"So," Snotlout begins, "I need you to put in a good word for me, Hiccup."**

The Vikings raised their eyebrows.

**"What?" Hiccup responds, "With who, Astrid?"**

**"Puh-lease!" Snotlout waves his hand down, "I'm so over Astrid, you can have her."**

"Oh, thank goodness for that." Astrid sighed with relief as Snotlout scowled.

**"Wow, thanks," Hiccup says dryly, "I appreciate that."**

**"Anytime, I'm a giver."**

The Vikings snorted as Snotlout turned to Ruffnut, "See? I'm so generous and cool-"

"The day you're generous," Fishlegs deadpanned as Ruffnut gagged, "Is the day Hiccup stops being such an adrenaline junkie."

"I'm not an adrenaline junkie!" Hiccup defended himself, "And don't bring me into this!"

"Yeah, sure," Astrid scoffed, "Mr. Building-A-Flight-Suit-and-always-free-falling."

"Free-falling!?" Stoick questioned.

Hiccup pouted as the other Riders and their dragons snickered.

**"Listen," Snotlout started, "I know Heather's been dying to approach me, but her fear's got her 'scurred'."**

"Hah!" Dagur laughed, "As if!"

Heather shivered at the very thought as Astrid, Mala, and Ruffnut sent her looks of sympathy. Fishlegs sent Snotlout an incredulous look as the latter scowled in return, before turning to Ruffnut, "I'm so over her, babe. Fishface can have her."

"Hey!" Fishlegs shouted as Ruffnut stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Spitelout groaned at the onscreen and offscreen interactions; Why, just _why_ did his son have to flirt with _every_ woman that crossed his path?

**"Yeah," Hiccup stutters, "I-I-I don't think Heather gets 'scurred', Snotlout. Besides, I'm not so sure you're ready for a woman like Heather."**

**"She's far too, uh, sincere, honest, brave."**

Heather blushed at the praise.

**"I can fake honesty, I can fake sincerity, I can fake all those things."**

The Vikings rolled their eyes again, and either scoffed, snorted, or snickered.

**"Oh, yeah, and by the way, she's smart, too."**

The snickers turned to chuckles.

**"I can fake being smarters," Snotlout said with his arms crossed as Hookfang snorted.**

The chuckles turned into outright laughter as Spitelout moaned in embarrassment. Snotlout flinched at father's groan, before deciding to save-face as he huffed at the Vikings' laughter, not quite understanding their reasons for doing so.

"What?" He asked, "I'm a great liar!"

The laughter grew stronger.

**The Astrid and the Twins fly towards the land as Stormfly paused and screeched, having spotted the Hunters.**

**"Keep it nice and warm," a Hunter says, "This way, it's a beauty."**

The dragons growled at seeing all those hunters as all the humans glared at the screen.

**The Hunters continued to clamor as Astrid gestured for the other Riders to stop, "I think we should move in slowly, preserve the element of-"**

**"Coming in hot!" Tuffnut interrupts as he and Ruffnut fly Barf and Belch downwards, "Woo-ooo-ooo!" Ruffnut chirped.**

The Vikings chuckled as the other Riders groaned.

**Astrid sighs, "-surprise," She flies down as Tuffnut snickers, lifting the sheet that covered the Hunters' cargo, "Voila!"**

**"Dragon egg!" Ruffnut smiles.**

The Vikings 'Ooooo'ed and 'Aaaah'ed at the sight, while the smarter ones were left to wonder, what species was that? The Riders' eyes widened as they remembered what day this was, and Stormfly chirped happily at the thought of seeing her friend again, albeit as a hatchling.

**Tuffnut gasps in surprise as the Hunters begin shooting them with arrows and they both scream.**

**"Help!" Tuffnut shouts as the Twins run towards their dragon, the Hunters chasing them close by, "Aaah!".**

**One of the Hunters grunts as he pulls the cargo.**

**"Oh, no, you don't!" The Twins cry in unison.**

**Barf breathes his gas and Belch ignites it, causing an explosion behind the Hunter.**

Hiccup pinched his nose in annoyance as the other Riders and their allies gave the Twins incredulous looks, "Guys, you need to protect the egg, not fry it!"

**"Guys, we need to protect the egg," Astrid swoops down, "not fry it!"**

Hiccup and Astrid blinked before giving each other a smirk as Stoick and the Hofferson Parents smiled.

**The Hunters begin sailing away on a small boat, "To the ship, ay!" Astrid and Stormfly move the follow them.**

**"Fire!" One of the Hunters shout as Astrid gasps, arrows whizzing by as she and Stormfly dodge.**

The Vikings gasped in worry as the Hofferson Parents stayed firm, knowing that their baby could handle it.

**"Stormfly!" Astrid commands as the dragon gave a bright blast of fire, flaring up the sky.**

**Fishlegs and Heather see the flare and pause, before flying on their dragons towards the source of the light. Hiccup and Snotlout share a look before doing the same.**

**"We're never gonna get out of here!" One of the Hunters panic as another Hunter responds, "It's the egg they want!"**

**"They want the egg? Give it to them!"**

**The Hunters grunt as they prepare to launch the egg with a catapult.**

The Vikings gasped, surely they wouldn't?

**But they did. Astrid calls out to the other Riders as they approach, "Get ready to move, guys!"**

**"Fire!" The Hunters launch the egg.**

The Vikings paled as the children shrieked, worried for the safety of the egg, as the dragons snarled nervously at the screen.

**The Twins move to catch it, "We got it! We got it!"**

**"Back off, Twidiots." Snotlout and Hookfang fly in, "It's mine!"**

**"Back off, Snotlout!" Ruffnut shrieks as the egg continues to fall. The two dragons and their riders end up colliding and start to fall with the egg as they all groaned.**

The Vikings groaned. The Twins and Snotlout would never work as a team.

**Fishlegs and Meatlug approach the egg as it continues to fall, and Meatlug bats it away with her tail. The egg flies towards Astrid and Stormfly, who bat it back.**

**"Heather!" Astrid calls.**

"Hey," Snotlout remarks, "That actually looks kinda fun!"

The entire Hall gave him disbelieving looks as Snotlout raised his arms in surrender and continued, "I mean we could do this without an actual dragon egg, like a game with a ball or something."

"That's.." Hiccup started as Astrid finished, "Actually not a bad idea."

The Twins cheered as Fishlegs squealed, "Oooo... We could call it Dragon Ball!"

"Dragon Ball?" Snotlout scoffed, "Sounds dumb, who would watch that?"

From somewhere in the distance, the faint, disembodied and hysterical laughter of the Witch could be heard.

"Well, why don't you come up with a name, then?" Hiccup suggested as the Riders continued discussing what to call their new game.

The Vikings chuckled as the Riders launched into conversation, only those teens would find a way to turn a dangerous mission into a sport.

**"Got it!" The egg rolls perfectly off of Windshear's tail as Heather grunts.**

**The egg ends up balancing perfectly upside-down on the edge of the cliff as Heather panics, "Huh! No!" **

The Hall grew tense as the Vikings stared at the screen with bated breath.

**The egg falls off.**

The Hall grew silent.

**Suddenly, Hiccup and Toothless are seen swooping upwards, the egg in Hiccup's hands.**

The Vikings whooped and cheered, as the dragons gave a sigh of relief, before cheering with their human companions. Toothless looked smug as his speed and agility was displayed, while Hiccup laughed and patted his head.

"**Well, that was fun." Hiccup says as the camera zooms in on him, "Hey, I've got an idea, how about we get this back to the Edge, safely."**

**The scene cuts to the Edge's clubhouse in daylight, slowly zooming in.**

A few of the Vikings winced at the sudden change in light intensity, while others blinked.

**"It's definitely not a Changewing," Hiccup observes as the camera cuts to the egg, panning up to reveal him reading the Book of Dragons.**

**"Thank Thor," Fishlegs sighs in relief.**

**"And it's not the type of any of our dragons."**

**"Oh," Fishlegs chirped, the camera revealing him standing next to a sleeping Meatlug, "Can you imagine Meatlug with her very own egg?"**

**Fishlegs turns to give Meatlug a comforting rub, "It would be so cute, aww!"**

The Vikings cooed at their own dragons, while those without dragons just smiled at the sight. Astrid, however, grimaced as she remembered the exploding eggs of the dragons' first Snoggletog.

**Hiccup sighs before turning back to the book, "I don't think it's in here, Fishlegs."**

**"Well," Tuffnut adds, the camera revealing him with his hand on his waist as Chicken clucks from the table, "Someone certainly has their own ideas on what it is." ****Chicken coos and clucks before landing on the enormous dragon egg. Tuffnut gasps proudly and bends down, "Look who's feeling motherly! Aren't you, little chicken?"**

"Wait," Ruffnut realises, "Doesn't this mean that Tuff is technically Garff's grandpa or something?"

The Vikings turned towards her with bewildered eyes. "I mean," She explained, "Tuff _did_ adopt Chicken, and Chicken adopted Garff, so.."

The Vikings' eyes grew to the size of plates in realisation as Tuffnut gasped dramatically, "I'M A GRANDFATHER!"

"I'M A GRAND AUNT!" Ruffnut shouted.

"We're OLD!" The Twins gasped in unison and horror.

The Thorston parents fainted as Hiccup turned to whisper into Astrid's ear, "They have a really weird family tree."

Astrid chuckled as she pecked Hiccup's cheek, "You can say that again."

**"Give me a kiss," Tuffnut said as he put his finger near Chicken. Chicken clucked in alarm and bit Tuffnut's finger, "Ow!" He clutched his hand, "Easy, pal! I'm on your side."**

Half of the Vikings winced while the other half snickered at his pain.

**Fishlegs chuckled as he stood beside Hiccup, who was watching the scene with amusement, "If you're gonna hatch _that_ egg, I think you're gonna need a _little_ bit more power than that, Chicken. But, it was a nice try."**

**"Don't listen to him, Chicken." Tuffnut put one hand on his hips, "Haters gonna hate, hatchers gonna hatch." He snapped his fingers, "And, buddy," He raised his hand before pointing it, "you're-a-hatchin'." Chicken clucks as Tuffnut puts both of his hands on his hips, and coos with her.**

**"We should check the Dragon Eye notes again," Hiccup says, taking the book from under his arm and looking through it again, "Just to be sure."**

**"Okay," Fishlegs says blankly as the two of them walk away, "But I didn't see anything in there about eggs or hatchings."**

**The camera cuts to a close-up of Chicken's face as she clucks some more, and lets out an especially loud one when she hears the egg crackling.**

The Vikings gasped, while others leaned in.

**The eggs cracks some more, as Tuffnut tries to alert the nerds. "Uh, guys?" He says, pointing at the egg.**

**"Not now, Tuff." Hiccup responds from off-camera.**

**"Okay," Tuffnut shrugs as he bends down to watch the egg hatch, his head resting on his hands with an excited smile on his face.**

The Vikings chuckled while others groaned as Hiccup rubbed his neck sheepishly, grinning guiltily as he saw the situation from Tuffnut's point of view. The Twins, however, took no notice as they smiled obliviously while watching the screen.

**The egg cracks some more as the two nerds turn around, hearing the sound.**

**"Tuffnut!" Hiccup shouts angrily as Fishlegs continues, "Why didn't you say something?"**

**"Really?" Tuffnut asks sarcastically with an eyebrow raised.**

"Sorry, Tuff." The aforementioned Viking nerds apologised in unison while the other Vikings laughed. Tuffnut shrugged it off with an evil smirk, "I got you back, didn't I?"

The two grimaced and shuddered as they remembered the prank performed on them that day, while their dragons joined in on the laughter. That had taken forever to clean!

**Hiccup sets the book back on the table as the two approached the egg, Chicken clucking loudly as the egg continues to crack. Tuffnut leans slightly forward, "Kind of makes you wonder what came first; the chicken, or the chicken." **

"Uh, Were you trying to say 'the chicken or the egg?'" Hiccup asks, as Tuffnut shook his head blankly.

"No? I thought I was pretty clear."

"Dude," Ruffnut says, "It was _obviously_ the chicken that came first."

"No, way," Tuffnut butts his helmet against hers as they stared at each other, "It was the chicken, not the chicken."

"Chicken."

"Chicken."

"Chicken!"

"Chicken!"

The two continued to fight as everyone around them rolled their eyes.

**He screams and steps back as the egg bursts, the eggshells flying in every direction, and the camera cuts to reveal a small yellow dragon with black claws, orange wings and blue ear fins squeaking with its eyes closed. The hatchling slowly opens its wings and shakes his head, opening his eyes for the first time.**

Collective cries of "Aww!" rippled through the hall as the female dragons cooed motherly. That hatchling was unbelievably cute! Stormfly chirped happily at seeing her hatchling friend, as Astrid scratched behind her dragon's horns with an amused chuckled. All of the young children, many of which owned orphaned hatchlings of their own that were rescued from Hunters, squealed at the adorable sight and hugged their dragons tightly.

A few of the more intelligent Vikings, however, were quite curious. They'd never seen this type of dragon before, and never saw it in the Book as the Riders had taken it with them to the Edge. They all asked the same question:

**"What is that?" Fishlegs asked.**

**"It's familiar," Hiccup replies as the camera switches to show the dragon opening his eyes wider, "But I can't place it."**

"You know, in hindsight, it was pretty obvious." said Fishlegs.

"To be fair," Hiccup pointed out, "Before this, we only had one other encounter with his species."

"True."

"Ha-ha!" Snotlout laughed, "The geniuses became the idiots."

The Vikings' curiosity as to what species it was grew further, while others raised their eyebrows at Snotlout's indirect compliment, giving the Dragon Riders questioning looks as the Riders gestured towards the screen.

**The hatchling purred, before screeching loudly and high-pitched.**

Everyone in the hall either groaned or winced at the ear-splitting noise, many of the Vikings covering their ears. The hatchlings, having far more sensitive ears than their human owners or adult brethren, cried loudly in pain, making the Vikings cover their ears tighter. The poor arm amputees of the village could only cover one ear, and they all groaned as the entire hall fell into noisy misery.

**"Ah!" Tuffnut gasped, he and Hiccup covering their own ears and Hiccup closing his eyes as the hatchling continued to screech and Fishlegs stepped back with a wince, "Oh, no! No, no! Stop! Stop!"**

**Tuffnut screamed as Fishlegs spoke to Hiccup, who opened his eyes, "I liked him better when he was inside," Fishlegs said, covering his ears as well.**

There wasn't a single Viking that didn't agree with him at that very moment.

**The screeching continued as the screen reveals several small dragons flying away from their posts on the Clubhouse, trying to get away from the noise. Day turns to night, as the Moon shines high while the screeching shows no sign of stopping. The scene changes to show the interior of the Clubhouse, and by now, Toothless and all the other Riders have come inside.**

**Snotlout's talking turns into a shout, "Can someone please SHUT THAT THING UP?" **

**"Aww, it probably needs its mother." Heather reasons as she is shown standing beside him, "Poor thing, all by itself."**

**"That's what I was trying to say," Snotlout lies with his hand on his heart, "Because I'm so sincere!"**

**Heather looked at him, confused, as Snotlout continues, "Of course, _these_ fools don't listen, but.." He paused and gestured to himself, "I listen."**

Snorts and eye-rolls ran rampant through the hall.

"Sincere," Astrid snarked with her arms crossed, "Right."

"Listen," Hiccup said with a raised eyebrow, "Right."

Snotlout ignored them, and turned to Ruffnut. "You see?" He started, "I'm so sincere and listening-y, you have to love me!"

Ruffnut let out a "Bleh!" of disgust as she ordered Barf to gas him in the face, she and Tuffnut snickering while Snotlout stepped back with a cough.

Spitelout, by now, had his face in his hands as he rubbed his temples, his Son's idiocy having given him a headache. Snotlout pretended not to notice, and scowled at the Zippleback.

**Heather puts her hand on her waist with a disbelieving look while the Hatchling continues to screech. Tuffnut is shown frowning, Chicken in his lap while he sits, and suddenly shoots his head and finger up, "I got it!"**

**"What?!" Hiccup shouts from the table as Astrid lowers her arms from her ears, she and Toothless turning their heads to face the male Twin, "What is it?"**

**"Garffiljorg." Tuffnut states with focused triumph.**

"What?" The Vikings all asked.

**"What?" Hiccup asked.**

**"Its name."**

They gave the male Twin a blank stare.

**"Who cares what we call it?!" Ruffnut shouts from the corner, "Not like it's listening to us anyway."**

**"Chicken cares!" Tuffnut says, pointing to his most prized possession, "I mean, it did come out of her!"**

**"Tuffnut," Hiccup speaks, "She didn't actually..."  
**

**Tuffnut and Chicken give him a glare as Hiccup stops himself, "N-n-never mind."**

The Thorston parents chuckled, having been in similar situations during the Twins' visits and when they moved back in. That blasted Chicken was the only thing on Tuffnut's mind.

**The scene switches to the Stables, still at night, as the Hatchling continues to screech. The Hatchling is shown in one of the wooden cage-stables, while the Riders look on in hopelessness and despair. Well, except for Snotlout, who just looks absolutely done.**

A few short chuckles came out on the sight of their expressions, especially Snotlout's.

**"Oh," Fishlegs sighed tiredly, "How are the dragons gonna get any sleep with this little guy in here?"  
**

**"It's them or us, Fishface!" Snotlout shouts as he walks away, "But, please, feel free to babysit that thing if you want to."**

**He walks past Heather, "Uh," She asked, "Maybe I should stay with it?"**

**"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Snotlout runs back, positioning himself behind Heather with an obviously faked politeness, "Oh, we're like two yaks in a stall, you and me."**

The Vikings rolled their eyes as Dagur stared incredulously at the Hooligan. Snotlout, however, paid no heed as he turned to Ruffnut, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Ruffnut gagged, "Ugh."

**"Ugh," Astrid almost snarled, standing behind Hiccup who held a serious expression, "Look, i-if we shut these doors," Hiccup shouts over the noise as he walked, "Plug our ears, and sleep _under_ our beds," The camera cuts to the Twins giving each other a look as Hiccup continues, "We just might be able to catch a few winks."**

**Astrid was about to follow him until the Hatchling's screech grew even louder, wincing while Hiccup covered his ears. "Yeah, okay," He flails his arms about, "Let's just get out of here before our heads explode!"**

The Vikings and Dragons sighed with relief, "Oh, Finally!"

**The Riders made to leave as Tuffnut called, "Chicken, come on, it's bedtime." The chicken clucks as Tuffnut bent down, "Hey, I'll tell you the story about the angry chicken who took on the Buffalord!"**

**Chicken hesitates for a moment before bawking and running towards the screaming dragon. Tuffnut stood up, "She just ain't havin' it, she wants to stay with Garffiljorg!"**

**Chicken clucks, hopping towards Garff as he continues to screech. Chicken clucks rhythmically as the young dragon finally stopped, carefully listening to her tune. Garffiljorg crawled towards the bird and screeched softly, trying to mimic her tune. **

The entire hall breathed sighs of relief once more as a few of the Vikings lowered their hands. Tuffnut glared at the screen, holding his Chicken close, as he remembered what happened next.

**Hiccup and Astrid turned around.**

**"Oh, he stopped cry-" Hiccup nearly shouted before interrupting himself, "Uh, he stopped crying."**

**"That's because Chicken sang to him," Tuffnut states like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Didn't you hear that?" He chuckled as he put a hand on his hips before crossing them, "Oh, the pipes on that Chicken!"  
**

"I'll say!" Snotlout drawled as he dug into his ear, he and the other Riders remembering the times when they were awoken by Chicken's cocka-doodle-doos.

**Chicken cooed and the Hatchling screeched, before spitting out a large projectile of amber, encasing the poor, honest bird, who squeaks and clucks in fear.**

The very same aviary creature squawked fearfully, while Tuffnut held her closer in comfort.

"Shh," He cooed, "It's gonna be okay, Chicken. It's gonna be okay."

**The dragon squeaked happily before spreading his wings and doing a little dance in celebration, and ran towards his prey. Tuffnut grabbed the ball of amber containing Chicken and pulled it out of reach, "Bad dragon! Um, does this look familiar to anyone but me?"**

**He held Chicken out, "Impenetrable amber cocoon, vicious hungry dragon," He pointed at Garff accusingly, "and terrified Vikings?"**

**"It's a baby Death Song, Tuffnut." Fishlegs said as he walked forwards, Hiccup and Astrid staring worriedly, "Believe me, we know."**

A Death Song? That was new. "It's a new dragon species," Fishlegs explained to the Vikings, who had looked at them expectantly. An entirely new species? How many had the Riders discovered while on the Edge? They all suddenly noticed Sleuther and Windshear, and wondered what species they were as well.

**"Oh, that's just perfect!" Snotlout snarked, walking away as the dragon screeched loudly and the screen cut to black. The screen then fades, to reveal Chicken clucking from the Clubhouse, Hookfang, Barf and Belch peering in from outside. Hiccup is shown tending to the encased Chicken, cutting off bits of the ember with a small knife, while Tuffnut sobbed hysterically in the background, pacing back and forth.**

A few of the Vikings gave Tuffnut sympathetic looks as the latter whimpered at the memory. The other Riders rolled their eyes fondly. Honestly, Tuffnut and Snotlout could compete for the archipelago's most dramatic Drama-King.

**"Tuffnut," Hiccup asked, "Could you please help me out?"**

**"And do what?" The Viking sobbed.**

**"Calm your chicken! It's not doing any of us any good to have the entire Edge freaking out."**

**"I'm here, Chicken," Tuffnut said as he bent down with an encouraging smile, putting a hand on the amber case where Chicken's shoulder would be, "Don't you worry, everything is gonna turn out.." He broke off and wailed, "I can't lie to a chicken!" He leaned forward and hugged Chicken tightly.**

Tuffnut did the same as his past self and hugged his beloved Chicken like a pillow, Belch looking on with a twinge of jealousy.

**"You know, that'd go much easier if you had some Monstrous Nightmare gel," Snotlout added as he leaned against the wall and pointed at Hookfang, "Plus, you could get yourself some rotisserie chicken while you're at it." He chuckled, "That sounds good."**

"SNOTLOUT!" Shouted every Viking in the Hall as the Twins gave him the deadliest glare.

"Don't ever.." Tuffnut half-scolded, half-sobbed, "Don't you DARE ever joke about that again!"

Spitelout tutted quietly and shook his head, which honestly felt like a stab in the side to Snotlout.

"What?!" He tried to defend himself, "I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"Oof!" He got punched in the gut by Ruffnut. The Vikings shook their heads, exasperated and annoyed. Had he no tact? Wait, nevermind, this was Snotlout they were talking about.

**Tuffnut immediately pounced angrily on Snotlout as Hookfang groaned. Hiccup looks on with an deadpanned expression that says, 'I am so done with this, please kill me now.'**

**"You apologize to her right now!" Tuffnut shouted, pulling Snotlout up in a headlock, "You hear me?!"**

**"No!" Snotlout retorted as Tuffnut continued, "Nobody's rotissering Chicken!"**

The Vikings winced as the Twins' glare hardened. Never before had they seen either of them so.. emotional. Sure, they would act emotional, but it was always easy to see that it was fake. Here, though, Tuffnut's rage was genuine, and it was terrifying. The Thorston Parents gave Snotlout a hard stare. There were lines, and they had been crossed.

**Chicken clucked, "Nobody! So you keep that Monstrous Nightmare gel away from her!"**

**"Actually, Tuff, Snotlout may be onto something." Hiccup stood up and walked towards Hookfang.**

Everyone stared at Hiccup as if he had sprouted three heads out of his neck. Stoick was the most bewildered, his expression not at all living to his name. How could his boy be so blunt? He was always so polite when it came to such matters. To Hiccup, the sight was comical, and he only nodded towards the screen.

**"Oh sure," Tuffnut pushed Snotlout to the side, "What's next, roasted Toothless?"**

Toothless gave Tuffnut a snort.

**"Just stay with me here," Hiccup rubbed the blade harmlessly on Hookfang's chin, gathering the gel and approaching the Zippleback, "Remember when we were at Melody Island?" He gestured to the knife and held it out for Belch to ignite it, turning it into a flaming blade as Tuffnut gasped, Snotlout still catching his breath.**

The Vikings gasped. A flaming knife?! They were even more shocked at the conversation that followed.

"So that's where you got the idea for Inferno!" Astrid realised.

"Yep!"

"Oh, man!" Dagur giggled like a mad child, "It's such a cool sword!"

Their eyes widened at the implications. Hiccup was a genius when it came to engineering and blacksmithing, true, and he was an expert on Dragons, outshone only by Fishlegs in that category, but surely not... there was no way...!

**"Don't do it, Hiccup!" Tuffnut exclaimed as the one-legged Viking approached the trapped bird, "You'll singe her little feathers, and that's all she has in the whole wide world!"**

**Hiccup held the burning blade closer to Chicken as Tuffnut gestured to himself, "Except for me, of course. Feathers and me!"**

**Hiccup held the blade next to Chicken's head as the latter clucked in worry, melting the amber, "I'm just doing enough to get it started."**

"Aah..." The Vikings realised. Gobber smirked, Hiccup always found a clever way to outdo himself. That was his former apprentice, alright.

"Now, that's my boy!" Stoick cheered proudly.

Heather chuckled as Dagur smiled fondly, "Of course you'd get the idea for the most awesome weapon on Midgard by helping someone." That was his little brother, always helping others. Hiccup blushed sheepishly at the praise, "Well, Viggo had something better."

"Viggo Grimborn?" Astrid asked, surprised.

"What could be more awesome than a fire sword?!" Ruffnut asked, incredibly incredulous. That thing had the potential to cause so much destruction, and just simply imagining it was beautiful!

"Oh, you'll see," Hiccup said in a cryptic whisper, "You and Tuff would definitely enjoy it."

The Twins gave each other confused and surprised looks.

**"I won't go deep enough deep enough to get remotely close to Chicken," Hiccup said as he moved he flaming blade around and melted the amber, Tuffnut watching anxiously, "See?"**

**Chicken clucked as Hiccup called, "Now, Toothless?"**

**The Night Fury approached, holding out his front paw as he carefully cracked open the amber with a single claw. The amber shattered, and Chicken fainted. Tuffnut grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders, ecstatic, and literally threw him aside as he went to hold his Chicken.**

"Nice," Ruffnut gave her twin a high-five as Hiccup laughed very sarcastically. Toothless fought the urge to snarl, he knew that the long-haired male had meant no harm in his actions, but he still didn't appreciate watching Hiccup pushed around like that. Astrid and Stoick shared the same sentiment.

**"The Chicken is free!" Tuffnut cheered as Fishlegs and Heather holding Garff approach from the background, "Chicken is free!" He held his beloved bird to his face, a loving reunion.**

**Garffiljorg screeches in Heather's arms as she and Fishlegs approach, Chicken, terrified, clucks madly as Tuffnut growled, "You!" He turned to Hiccup, who was picking himself up from the ground, "We need to remove Garffiljorg from this island, immediately!"**

Many of the Vikings wholeheartedly agreed. That thing needed to be returned home, it was far too loud! However, many of the other Vikings looked horrified at the prospect of abandoning a child.

**"Okay, Tuff," Hiccup consoled, "Don't you think you're overreacting?"**

**"Nonsense!" Tuffnut shouted dramatically as he through Chicken upwards, the latter landing in Hiccup's arms and being put down on the floor.**

**"It is getting difficult to handle this guy, Hiccup," Astrid said, appearing out of nowhere, as the Hatchling continued its crying, "You gotta admit!"**

**"She right, Hiccup!" Fishlegs agreed, "I mean, he just went after Chicken! How long before he goes after one of us?"**

**"He's gots to go!" Snotlout chipped in, pointing, "Back to Melody Island with you!" **

**Hiccup stepped in his way as Snotlout moved to grab the young dragon, "Snotlout, did you forget how the Death Song tried to eat all of us and our dragons?"**

"WHAT?!" The Vikings all asked. Their parents especially had paled, their babies had nearly been eaten! And worse, nobody would've found their bodies if they were. A few of the dragons, mostly the younger ones, whimpered as the older dragons snarled protectively. Hiccup met their expectant gazes and gestured to his friend, "Fishlegs?"

"The Death Song is a cannibalistic dragon that uses its, well, song," Fishlegs explained hurriedly, "to lure its prey and trap them in amber to eat later!"

"You went to explore lands far from Berk," Stoick started as Spitelout continued, "and nearly got eaten?!"

The Riders chuckled nervously as their families gave them the hardest glares. Oh, boy. They were so dead.

**"Well I had until you just brought it up," Snotlout rubbed the back of his neck, "Thank you for that."**

Once again, the Vikings were all taken aback at Snotlout's friendlier demeanour. Snotlout wasn't one to thank others, was he? The latter refused to meet his father's eyes as he saw his mother smile at her boy. She was just so proud and happy that her baby had finally learned to reveal his softer side. Spitelout, however, was frowning, not in disappointment at his son showing weakness by admitting his faults like Snotlout had suspected, but in worry. Why didn't he get to see this side of him? Were Snotlout's friends really closer to him than his own father?

**"Oh, no, no!" Astrid said, "It is too dangerous to go back!"**

**"And we don't even know if a baby dragon _can_ bond with a dragon that's not its parent!" Fishlegs added as Heather stepped forward to speak, "You guys, he's too young to know right from wrong! He's just following his instincts."**

**The camera cuts to a close-up of Heather's face, the hatchling in her hands reflecting in her eyes, "I know what it's like to be all alone in the world,"**

Hiccup, Heather, Dagur and even Toothless all nodded subtly, too subtly for anyone but the dragons with their keen eyes to notice. They had all known that feeling at one point, and for very, very long periods of time, too.

**"We can't just shun him!"**

**"Hmm," Hiccup spoke, "Heather's right! We have trained everything from a Night Fury to a Night Terror," He put his hand on Toothless' head, "We can certainly train him not to eat us, right?"**

**"Yeah," Fishlegs chuckled, "We can try."**

**"We owe it to Garff!" Heather says, determined.**

**"Speak for yourselves," Tuffnut scowled as he held Chicken, Ruffnut standing behind him with her arms crossed.**

**The Hatchling continued to screech as Snotlout gestured towards him, "And what about that? Does anyone else, not named Hiccup, have an idea before I take a running leap off the top of the Edge?!"**

**"Nobody say a word," Astrid joked.**

That got a few chuckles as Snotlout scowled.

**"Funny, Astrid!" Snotlout shouted, "By the way, I'm over you, in case you haven't heard! And if I'm being honest with you, because I'm nothing if not honest," Heather's humming is heard in the background, "Did you hear that, Heather?"**

**Snotlout's smirk falls as Heather continues humming. The dragon slowly quietens down as she starts to sing,**

**_"The sky is dark, and the hills are white_**

**_as the Storm King speeds from the North to-night,"_**

All the Vikings widened their eyes as they all recognised the old Norse Lullaby, a few of them even humming and singing along. Every Viking in the archipelago knew this tune, and it was either sung to them as children, or sung to children of their own.

The song meant many different things to many different Vikings. To Heather, it was a sweet reminder of how her adoptive parents always used this tune to calm her down, and now she had paid the favour forward.

**_"And this is the song the Storm King sings,  
_**

**_as over the world his cloak his flings:_****_  
_**

**_'Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep.'_**

**_He rustles his wings, and gruffly sings._**

**_'Sleep, little one sleep.'"  
_**

And sleep the little ones did. All of the extremely young children, the Twins, and their dragons had fallen asleep, their parents chuckling amusedly as a few fondly ruffled their hair. Some of the Vikings even continued the song, filling the air with something strange and yet oddly welcoming as the many voices chorused softly as one,

_"On yonder mountain-side a vine_

_clings at the foot of a mother pine;_

_The tree bends over the trembling thing,_

_and only the vine can hear her sing:_

_'Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;_

_What shall you fear when I am here?_

_Sleep, little one, sleep.'"_

At this point, even a few of the adults had fallen asleep while the rest of the Hall chuckled quietly. Who knew that Vikings were good at singing?

"Wow," Dagur breathed, "Sis, why didn't you tell me you could sing?"

"Oh, stop," She turned red and gestured to her sister-in-law, "Mala's singing is better."

"Well," Mala blushed, "Only because you've been giving me lessons. It's nothing compared to yours!"

**Fishlegs sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye, "That was.. that was just beautiful, Heather."**

**Snotlout imitated Fishlegs and kissed the air mockingly, "That was just beautiful, Heather." He kissed his own hand.**

The Vikings rolled their eyes. Way to ruin the moment. Astrid synchronised with herself onscreen, "Ugh."

**"Ugh," Astrid said, the only word on anyone's vocabulary when it came to Snotlout, "Thank Thor something worked."**

**"Well, would you look at that," Fishlegs piped in, "Garff wasn't the only one it worked on." The camera cuts to reveal Barf, Belch, The Twins, and Chicken all sleeping in one large pile and snoring.**

The aforementioned were doing the same.

**"It makes perfect sense," Hiccup realised as he stroked his chin and walked towards the sleeping dragon, "The Death Song sings to its prey to draw them in, that might be the primary way it communicates."**

**"And it might help us train it." Heather added.**

**"Interesting."**

**Snotlout coughed, "Yak dung!"**

**The Hatchling awoke on Snotlout's words and began screeching again, "Well, you better keep singing then."**

The Vikings turned to glare at Snotlout.

**"You mean, 'we.'" Hiccup shouted.**

**"I do?"**

**"Oh, yes, you do." Heather chided.**

**"Oh, yes, of course, I do."**

The Vikings turned to face each other. The Dragon Riders were going to sing? Their parents leaned in, quite curious as to what songs their children sang. Gobber chuckled, "Oh, this is going to be interesting."

**The scene changes to Hiccup and Toothless at the beach, Hiccup carrying the Death Song in his arms while the Night Terrors flew away. Hiccup put the Night Terror down and began to sing,**

_**"Come listen my young dragon friend, and I will tell a tale,"**_

In an instant, Hiccup groaned and sprawled to the floor. They were going to see him sing! Stoick was quite intrigued, for he had never heard Hiccup sing before. Gobber, however, snickered and smirked. The lad was a somewhat decent singer when it came to songs he knew well, but when making things up on the spot or singing new songs, he was terrible!

_**"Of days when Vikings feared the sound of monsters' distant wail.**_

_**For was a time not long ago, when wars were bravely fought**_

_**against a foe we feared before a lesson we were taught!**_

_**That night of fury, one did dare to set aside his dread**_

_**and place his hand upon a winged villain's gentle head."**_

Hiccup visibly cringed while the Vikings held back their snickers at Hiccup's terrible singing and voice-shaking. Snotlout, however, cared not and laughed outright. Astrid rolled her eyes at Snotlout while Toothless smiled, remembering that fateful day at the Cove.

_**"Now time has passed, and what was once our cursed enemy**_

_**now carries us to battle against our threat across the sea!"**_

The Vikings were mildly surprised. Who knew Hiccup had it in him, and could deepen his voice like that? Gobber was not surprised. All those years Hiccup spent imitating Stoick, the lad was practically an expert on that. On singing, however, he was not.

"Wow," Tuffnut commented, "Who knew Hiccup's voice could get so deep?"

Astrid smiled fondly as she nudged her boyfriend, "You got carried away, didn't you?"

"Ah-hah," Hiccup blushed, taking her hand as he got up from the floor, "A little."

**Hiccup stopped as he heard Garff's screech, looking down at his now amber-encased metal leg in disgust, "Ugh!"**

The Vikings shared the same sentiment while the amputees of the Village gave Hiccup sympathetic looks, the latter of whom shivered at the memory. It was always a disgusting hassle to clean their prosthetics.

**The scene cuts to Fishlegs playing his pan flute, Garff screeching and trying to imitate his tune while Meatlug watches in the background. Garff starts spitting amber as Fishlegs dodges, his flute-playing going faster and faster. This goes on for a few seconds before Fishlegs stops, the Hatchling having fallen asleep.**

'Huh,' The Vikings thought to themselves. Fishlegs had a knack for musical instruments, who knew? Well, the Ingermans did, and they all cheered proudly as Fishlegs' talents were finally revealed. Fishlegs blushed at the impressed looks he received, especially from Heather.

**"Phew," He sighed before turning to see an amber-covered Meatlug. The latter growled and shook her wings in annoyance.**

Chuckles rang through the Hall as Meatlug grumbled at the memory.

**The scene cuts to Snotlout flying a flaming Hookfang at night. The Death Song is shown sitting on Hookfang's head as Snotlout sung,**

_**"I killed my first boar ****when I was just a boy,"**_

The Jorgensons' eyes widened as they all recognised the tune of their family's anthem. Stoick smiled, remembering when Valka sang the same tune, albeit with slightly different lyrics since she wasn't a boy.

_**"a big ol' battle axe was my favourite toy!**_

_**Each of my enemies, they all have been destroyed;**_

_**For I am Snotlout, Oi, Oi, Oi!**_

_**Snotlout, Snotlout, Oi, Oi, Oi!**_

_**He's all man and you're all boy."**_

"Huh," Astrid mused, "He's actually not that bad of a singer."

"Oh, yeah!" Snotlout gloated as he kissed his biceps and turned to Ruffnut, "You hear that?"

Ruffnut, rudely awakened from her slumber, glared at him dangerously.

_**"Yes, I said it, try me if you dare,**_

_**I'll chill you to the bone with my steely glare!"**_

"I don't think he liked you challenging him, Snotlout." Fishlegs observed as Snotlout groaned, "Yeah, I noticed."

**The scene changes to the Twins' hut, where a knocking could be heard as Tuffnut opened the door and exclaimed in surprise. Snotlout is seen carrying Garff by the scruff of his neck, he and Hookfang both covered in amber.**

**"You guys are up," He grumbled, "Take him."**

**Tuffnut gasped as Garff screeched, backing away from the approaching Snotlout, "No, no, no. No!"**

**Chicken is seen walking towards them. Garff licked his lips as he spotted the tasty-looking poultry.**

**"He's fine," Snotlout tried to soothe as Chicken hid between Tuffnut's legs, "He just gets a little cranky when the music stops, okay?" He dropped the Hatchling onto the floor and walked away.**

"Snotlout!" Hiccup sighed as Heather continued, "You can't just drop a baby on the floor!"

"Oh, come on!" Snotlout groaned, "He was fine!"

Stormfly and a few other dragons, most notably the mothers, snarled angrily at how the dwarfish human had treated the young Hatchling.

**"That's all. So, ha-ha, you're gonna have so much fun." The door shut as Snotlout flew away on Hookfang, laughing. Tuffnut screamed and Chicken clucked, Garffiljorg approaching the terrified bird. Tuffnut, worried for the safety of his precious bird, started singing,**

_**"No, Garff, no!**_

_**You must not hurt Chicken.**_

_**For Chicken is a friend, will see you to the end!"**_

The Vikings chuckled as Snotlout laughed, "Hah! You're worse than Hiccup!"

"Hey!" The Twins and Hiccup said in unison as the laughter grew stronger.

**Ruffnut pushed him aside and sang quickly,**

_**"No, Garff, no! You cannot eat Tuff's chicken.**_

_**Eating that bird's heart will tear Tuffnut's apart!"**_

**Tuffnut rose from the ground,**

_**"Why must you eat my pet?**_

_**It is the only one I'll get."**_

Barf and Belch grumbled in envy while the Vikings cringed at Tuffnut's singing.

**Ruffnut put a hand on her hips, not amused, as Tuffnut continued,**

_**"And then all I'll do is fret,**_

_**because we only just met.**_

_**Something else that rhymes with met!"**_

More chuckles rang out in the Hall while others rolled their eyes.

**Ruffnut rolled her eyes and added,**

_**"But, how long, how long?**_

_**How long can we keep this up?**_

_**Can we keep this up, keep this up?"**_

**Chicken jumped on Tuffnut's head and gave an ending crow. Garffiljorg proceeded to pounce on them all, screeching as the Twins screamed. The scene changes to the interior of Hiccup's hut, revealing Hiccup pouring Monstrous Nightmare gel into the hilt of a small sword.**

The Vikings all wondered what Hiccup was doing, while Dagur and the Riders leaned forward, curious about the process of building Inferno. Gobber turned to Hiccup with a raised eyebrow, "What'yer doing, lad?"

"You'll see in a bit," Hiccup replied.

**He lifted the sword in concentration and pressed a few buttons on the canister, as the gel is seen spreading out into a shallow canal on the blade.**

**"Hmm." He lowered the sword, "Well, that was supposed to work."**

**"HICCUP!" The voices of all the other Riders shouted from outside. Astrid and Stormfly landed first, covered in amber.**

"Aw," Tuffnut whined as he voiced the thoughts of many of the Vikings in the crowd, "No Astrid song?"

"What did you sing, anyway?" Hiccup asked.

"Ugh," Astrid winced at the memory, "You don't wanna know."

**"This is officially out of hand!" She shouted, "We cannot go on like this!"**

**"Yeah!" Ruffnut grunted, the camera revealing all the others also covered in amber as Tuffnut wailed his song. Snotlout gestured grumpily at his amber-covered helmet.**

**"But we can't abandon him," Heather pointed out, oddly not coated with amber, "We just can't! I'd never forgive myself."**

_**"I'm sick of rhyming with 'met'!" **_**Tuffnut complained in the background as Hiccup and Toothless walked forwards, the sword in Hiccup's right hand.**

**"We won't abandon him," Hiccup addressed them all, "We'll do what we should've done to begin with; We'll take him to be with his own kind."**

**He pressed a button on the hilt of the sword as Astrid shouted, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"**

**"Yes," Hiccup confirmed, now wielding a sword with a burning blade.**

The Vikings gasped while others blinked and rubbed their eyes to make sure that they weren't seeing things.

**"We're going to Melody Island to find that Death Song!" He held out the flaming sword as the camera zoomed in on its fire, a determined look on Hiccup's face.**

The Vikings were speechless. Hiccup had just invented a flaming sword! Something they'd only imagined Valkyries and deities to wield. They all turned to Hiccup, gobsmacked, while Gobber egged him on, "Mind showing us, lad?"

"Er," Hiccup complied, "N-not at all!" He pulled out the sword, looking quite different from the one they'd seen onscreen, which they concluded must've been due to adjustments and upgrades, and Hiccup pushed the button and activated Inferno.

They were all awestruck as they watched the flames burn. He truly had a Dragon's soul. The Riders, Berserkers and Defenders, having seen the blade so many times before, smiled slightly smugly. Hiccup blushed at all the attention he was getting, and after a while, he deactivated the sword.

"Seriously," Ruffnut broke the silence, "What could Viggo possibly have had, that was cooler than _that_?!"

**The scene changes to the Clubhouse at daytime. Heather's humming could be heard as she carried the Hatchling while flying Windshear, and the camera pans downwards to reveal the rest of the Dragon Riders gathered at the arena.**

**"Hey, genius," Snotlout drawled, turning to Hiccup, "Have you thought of the fact that the Death Song mind-melts our dragons?"**

**"Actually, I have." Hiccup responded as Toothless growled.**

**"Good, good, good, good, good, good." Snotlout replied, "So, do you have a plan for that, or are we just gonna wing it?"**

**"Pun intended!" Tuffnut chuckled as Hiccup gave him and Ruffnut two pairs of moss earplugs, "Get it? You said 'Wing it'. You know, and dragons have-"**

The Vikings rolled their eyes.

**"We get it, Tuff." Astrid said as she held Stormfly's chin.**

**"We're gonna handle that, Snotlout," Hiccup said, ignoring Tuffnut and giving Fishlegs a pair, "By using these."**

**"Moss ear plugs!" Fishlegs hooted, "Awesome!"**

**"Right?" Hiccup responded enthusiastically as he gave the ear plugs to Astrid, "I custom-made them for each dragon to keep out the Death Song's call."**

**"Great," Snotlout snarked, nodding his head towards Hookfang, "As if this guy needs another reason to not listen." Hookfang snorted a breath of smoke, knocking his helmet off as Snotlout yelped and gave him a glare.**

Hookfang and Snotlout repeated their actions, earning a few chuckles from the crowd.

**"You didn't happen to make any for us," Astrid asked jokingly, "Did you?"**

"Oh!" The Twins chorused, "Burn!"

"Shut up, Twidiots!" Snotlout grumbled. The rest of the Vikings were torn between chiding Astrid for being so rude, or laughing. After all, this was Snotlout they were talking about.

**Snotlout laughed extremely sarcastically, "Very funny, Astrid. You should take that comedy routine on the road!"**

**Astrid mounted Stormfly as they flew off, "Maybe I will."**

**"Oh, 'Maybe I will.'" Snotlout mimicked as Hookfang growled in agreement, "Except you shouldn't because it's completely contextual!"**

"You know the word 'Contextual'," Astrid deadpanned, "But you used 'Smarters' in a sentence? I can't even decide if you're illiterate or not."

"Very funny, Astrid!" Snotlout snapped, stepping forward as the Twins chanted, "Fight, fight, fight!"

Hiccup, not wanting to see his cousin smooshed into a pile of goo, stood between them, "Okay, guys. L-let's just break this up before it starts, alright?"

The two gave each other deadly glares.

"Oh, and by the way," Hiccup turned to the crowd, "You might want to hold on to your dragons." He nodded towards the Riders, silently asking them to explain what to do as they approached the other Vikings.

**The scene changes to show all the Riders flying as the group, Hiccup and Toothless taking the lead. Garff is shown purring in his sleep, cradled in Heather's arms while Fishlegs watches from afar, admiring Heather and his own handiwork. Hiccup turns to ask, "Fishlegs, how did you swing that?"**

**"Dragon Nip!" Fishlegs replied, holding a small batch of the stuff, "I wasn't entirely sure it would work on this particular species.." He winced, "It only took a couple tries to get close enough to knock the little guy out." Meatlug grumbled, amber covering her ear as Fishlegs apologised, "Sorry, girl."**

**"Just make sure he's awake when we get there," Hiccup commanded, "We need him alert and focused."**

**The camera cuts, zooming out of Snotlout's face, revealing Astrid flying on Stormfly from behind.**

**"How do you get a one-armed Jorgenson out of a tree?" Astrid asked as Snotlout's expression turn to one of hurt and confusion, "You wave to him!"**

**All the other Riders laughed, the camera switching to the Twins as Heather whooped in agreement.**

The Riders, Astrid especially, all winced at the glares they received from the Jorgenson family. How dare she insult their family name like that? A few other Vikings, including Stoick, had glared with them, while most others just laughed. The Hofferson Parents, however, were not impressed.

"Astrid," Her father started, "What did we always tell you about insulting others?"

Astrid sighed in defeat, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say it at all."

"Exactly."

**"Wave to him," Snotlout grumbled to himself in confusion before scowling, "That's not even funny. Oh, I just got it, it is funny!"**

**"How do you sink a Jorgenson battleship?" Astrid called out, "You put it in the water!"**

**The Riders continued laughing as Fishlegs asked, "Do another one! Come on, more, one more!"**

"FISHLEGS!" The Ingermans shrieked. How could Fishlegs be so rude? Even if it _was_ to Snotlout! They'd raised him better than this!

"I'm sorry!" He pleaded. Hiccup winced as he gave Snotlout a sympathetic look, while the latter looked away with an unreadable expression on his features. The two had far more in common than most would realise.

**"Yeah, more!" Heather cheered.**

**Snotlout mimicked their laughter mockingly. "That's right, laugh, all of you," He snarked before laughing sarcastically, "But don't come running to me when you're out of Nightmare gel."**

**"Alright, gang," Hiccup interrupts, "The Death Song strike is very precise. Streamlined."  
**

**The camera cuts to reveal Melody Island, surrounded by fog as Hiccup continues, "So we need to spread out. That way, it can only go after us one at a time." The gang flies downwards and into the fog, as the camera pans to reveal them having landed on the island.**

**"Hey, how do you confuse a Jorgenson?" Astrid joked, "Put him in a round arena and tell him to go to the corner."**

Que more chuckles and glaring.

**At this, Hookfang chuckled as Snotlout scowled, "You don't even understand jokes."**

**Hookfang huffed. Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless walked out of a cave, "It's not in there. That's good news for Garff."**

**"And bad news for us," Snotlout said after turning to the other Riders, suddenly serious.**

**"All right," Hiccup mounted Toothless, "Let's find this guy."**

**They flew off as the screen changed to show the gang flying across the sky, the sun blaring behind them. The growls of the Death Song could be heard from afar, but the dragons remained unaffected thanks to the ear plugs.**

All the dragons fought the urge to fly towards the screen, their owners holding them tightly back. The smaller dragons, such as the Terrible Terrors and the Hatchlings, screeched and shook in their owner's arms, flapping their wings hysterically. The Riders spread out, and took it upon themselves to soothe the Dragons, unfortunately unable to pass around earplugs.

**"The ear plugs are working, Hiccup," Fishlegs observed.**

**"Great," Hiccup sighed, "Now let's get in closer. Everyone on high alert."**

**"No kidding," Snotlout quipped as they dived down. The gang flew into the foggy mist, going through twists and turns and coming across a collection of dragon bones encased in amber.**

Nearly everyone, Viking and Dragon, bowed their heads. A few of the Vikings even took off their helmets, as a show of respect towards the fallen dragons. Mala and Throk stood up and bowed from their waists, as was tradition for the Defenders of the Wing. The parents covered their children's eyes as they whimpered sadly at the sight.

**The group continued flying, the fog getting progressively thicker. Heather looked on in worry as Garff began waking up, screeching softly. "Oh, no." She called, "Hiccup?"**

**"Yeah," Hiccup whispered back, "Got it."**

**Hiccup and Toothless turned around, Hiccup gesturing for the others to stop. The other Riders turned around and halted as Heather hummed quietly.**

**"Shh!" Fishlegs pleaded to the Hatchling as it fell back to sleep, "Shh-shh-shh!"**

**Suddenly, they both came crashing down as amber was spit on them.**

**"Fishlegs!" Heather groaned.**

**"Heather!" Fishlegs called.**

The Vikings turned to smile at them as Fishlegs and Heather blushed. Snotlout waggled his eyebrows playfully, egging on the two love-birds.

**The two Riders and their dragons fell to the ground, coated in amber as Fishlegs whimpered. An adult Death Song, large and terrifying, with beautiful patterns on its wings, flies into view and roars.**

The Vikings gasped and paled, worried for the safety of the Riders.

**"Remember," Hiccup calls to the remaining group, "If we don't bunch up, it can't- Gah!" The Death Song spit out multiple shots of amber as he and Toothless flew out of the way, "Head's up!"**

**Astrid and Stormfly get hit first, then comes Snotlout, Hookfang, the Twins, and Barf and Belch.**

All the Vikings shrieked in horror, completely forgetting that this was in the past. The Riders' families held on to each for dear life.

**"Aah!" Snotlout shrieked, "I forgot how much I hate this guy!" He screamed and groaned as he and Hookfang fell to the ground, the Twins and Zippleback having already crashed. Astrid gasped as she saw Stormfly's tail covered in the amber, and the Death Song landed, giving a mighty and melodious roar. All the Riders are trapped, but Astrid grunts in an effort to set herself free.**

**The Death Song growled, Garff flying in and growling back. The baby dragon screeched as he landed.**

The Vikings watched with bated breaths. Now or never.

**"Never thought I'd be happy to hear that," Snotlout remarked from his amber trap. Garff continued screeching as the adult Death Song approached, growling and then spitting just in front of the Hatchling. The child returns the favour, spitting before the adult's legs.**

Fishlegs, now seeing this without being trapped in amber casing and clouded by fear, squealed in intrigue. He whipped out his notebook and readied his eyes for observation, preparing to add new information to the Dragon Manual.

**"Well," Hiccup mused before flying closer, "At least they're not shooting it at us."**

**The Adult roared melodically while Garff look on in confusion. The Death Song looks irritated for a moment, before repeating its tune. Garff, however, only screeches to the tune of the Norse Lullaby. The Riders looked at each other in worry as the Adult comes closer, repeating the same tune, trying to get the strange Hatchling to repeat after it. Now, Garff sings to the tune of the Jorgenson Anthem as Hiccup and Toothless landed.**

**"Hey," Hiccup dismounted, "I-I-I think they're bonding!"**

**Garff once again screeches to the tune of the Norse Lullaby, and the Adult whacks him away with its tail, knocking Garff into the rocky wall.**

The Vikings gasped, and, if it was even possible, seemed to get even paler. Stormfly whimpered at seeing her friend knocked around, while Astrid gave her a rub.

"Shh," She soothed, "It's okay."

**"Garff!" Heather shrieked in concern.**

**"That can't be good!" Snotlout shouted and Fishlegs piped in, "Hiccup!"**

**Hiccup unsheathed his sword, but it was too late. "Aah!" He winced as he and Toothless were encased, the Death Song roaring in their faces.**

**"I knew this was going to go bad," Snotlout panicked, "Why does no one listen to me?"**

**Garff whimpered as he forced himself up. The Death Song roared its tune once again as Snotlout yelped. It turned around as it heard Fishlegs humming to himself nervously, Garffiljorg repeating his tune while the Death Song warbled angrily.**

A few of the smarter Vikings were confused. While the rest of the village only saw a raging dragon, they could tell that there was something else going on. What was wrong? What did that Death Song want?

**"Fishface!" Snotlout hissed, "What are you doing?"**

**"I'm sorry," Fishlegs whimpered, "I hum when I'm nervous!"**

"I can think of literally every other scenario where you were nervous and didn't hum, Fishface!" Snotlout exclaimed as Fishlegs huffed.

**"Hum later! I heard they love humming in Valhal-"**

**"Hey, that's my favourite lullaby, and I was the one who taught it to Garff."**

**"Well that might be the problem," Hiccup realised, "He's singing our songs, the ones we sang to him, and the Death Song doesn't like them."**

The Vikings "Aah"ed in realisation. Of course!

**"You know," Snotlout quipped, "Everyone's a critic."**

**The Death Song sang again as Garff retreated behind a rock. The Death Song turned to approach Astrid, before roaring its tune and huffing.**

**"So, what do we do?" Astrid asked.**

**"Uh, keep singing," Hiccup called out, "Maybe we can find a song it does like."**

**"I'm sorry," Tuffnut casually replied, "But I'll need some time to prepare. This golden throat is a very delicate instrument."**

**The Death Song roared, grabbing Tuffnut in its mouth as he gasped and sang,**

The Vikings held their breaths worriedly. The Thorston parents bit their lips, knowing that the Twins had gotten through much worse, but seeing one of their babies in the jaws of a new and deadly dragon did not ease their worries.

**_"Oh, Death Song. Oh, Death Song,_**

**_You're big and bad and you kill a lot._**

**_And you spit out goo that looks like snot!"_**

**The Death Song paused for a moment before shaking its head, Tuffnut still in its jaws as he screamed, "Help!"**

The Vikings winced as the Thorston Parents held on to each other.

**Snotlout sang next as Garff watched in amusement,**

_**"Ooh, it's a scary, scary bad dragon!**_

_**He's gonna kill us all,**_

_**He's gonna kill us!**_

_**I hope he doesn't,**_

_**I hope he leaves soon."**_

**"Hey!" Ruffnut shouted, "That doesn't rhyme."**

**"Oh, like it knows!"**

**Tuffnut continued screaming as the dragon stopped shaking his head, roaring at Snotlout.**

**"Aah!" He shrieked as Tuffnut fell from its jaws, "Okay, sorry."**

_**"The hotness of your goo**_

_**gives me deja vu!"**_

**"Yep, that's it," Ruffnut commented, "Much better."**

**Astrid sang as the Death Song growled,**

_**"The beauty of your wings**_

_**makes us all want to sing,"**_

They all winced painfully upon hearing Astrid's overly high-pitched singing. Well, at least it was better than Tuffnut's.

**The other Riders joined in as Garff chirped happily,**

_**"Want to sing,**_

_**Want to sing,**_

_**Want to sing, want to sing"**_

**Ruffnut finished,**

_**"All of us want to sing your death song,**_

_**we all want to be like you and growl!"**_

**She screamed as the Death Song ran towards her, before Garff flew in between them and finally repeating the Adult's tune. The dragon is surprised, as it watches Garff fly upwards, continuing the song. The two met in the air, both roaring the same tune melodically. **

The Vikings sighed in relief, as they and their dragons smiled, happy that the Hatchling had finally managed to bond with his own kind.

**Garff screeches, pausing and looking at Heather.**

**"Go on, Garff," Heather smiled, "It's okay!"**

**Garff repeats his tune as he and the Adult flew away, leaving the Riders be.**

Claps and cheers of joy filled the Hall as they all laughed and whooped.

**"Wow!" Ruffnut screamed, "Woo-hoo!"**

**"I don't believe it." Hiccup said, "Garff saved us!"  
**

**"Yep," Heather mused, "We saved him, and he saved us."**

**Tuffnut gasped, "I just had a thought."  
**

Astrid faked a dramatic gasp as the Vikings chuckled, "It's the end of the world!"

"Somebody save us!" Ruffnut joined in, increasing the laughter.

**"Now that they're both on the same team, what's stopping them from both eating us?"**

**Toothless passes Hiccup his sword using his tail, which Hiccup activates and uses to shatter their amber casing.**

**"Hiccup, that's brilliant!" Fishlegs praised, "If you find the weak spot in the cocoon, the rest will crack and fall apart!"**

**"Exactly," Hiccup said as Toothless shook himself free, "Now, let's get out of here before they get their appetites back."**

**The gang is shown flying away from the island, Hiccup admiring his flaming sword.**

**"You know, if that were like, twice the size," Astrid observed as she and Stormfly flew behind him, "It would make a really cool sword."**

**"Exactly. I'm gonna call this, 'Inferno'."**

**The other Riders gave each other a look as Hiccup defended himself, "I mean, look at it!"**

**"Nah," Tuffnut commented, "Doesn't have the right uh..." He made a waving motion with his finger, "Je ne sais quoi."**

**"Je ne sais quoi?" Hiccup questioned, "How did you.. all right, I'll come up with something different."  
**

**He held up the sword, "Of course, I will have to make some adjustments. Lengthen the shaft, add another canister for more Monstrous Nightmare gel," He continued as the Riders gave each other amused looks.**

The Vikings did the same, and turned to each other, amused. Stoick and Gobber chuckled fondly, he was always so enthusiastic when it came to his inventions.

**"Make the gas canister airtight. Oh, I am getting to work on this thing right away!"**

**"And that's the last we'll see of Hiccup this week," Astrid joked as Hiccup and Toothless flew further away, all the other Riders laughing in amusement.**

The entire hall laughed amusedly at Hiccup's enthusiasm. Gobber nudged his former apprentice, "Always have to work on _something_, eh?"

Hiccup chuckled with a sheepish grin as the laughter continued. Gobber smiled, remembering the new and dangerous projects that Hiccup had been working on. That lad was far too inventive for his own good!

_**"Ooh, he's a scary bad dragon," **_**Snotlout sang as the Riders flew off into the distance,**

_**"He didn't kill us,**_

_**I'm glad he didn't!**_

_**Now we can go home!"**_

**And the screen cut to black.**

The Vikings turned to Snotlout, some with questioning looks, while others looked amused.

"What?" Snotlout blushed, avoiding his father's unreadable gaze. Mrs Jorgenson smiled knowingly, glad that Snotlout wasn't afraid to show his true self around his friends, while Spitelout, utterly confused, turned to her with a bewildered expression.

"Nice singing, Lout," Hiccup nudged, "You should take that musical routine on the road!"

"Very funny, Hiccup."

* * *

**So, what'ya think? Snotlout's singing deserves much more appreciation, tbh. Actually, Snotlout in general deserves much more appreciation. He's a cool dude. Please leave reviews!**

**Next up, "Reign of Fireworms," requested by Shiranui12.**

**Fun fact: Did you know that the song Heather sings is an actual poem by a guy from the 1800s?**


	4. Reign of Fireworms

**Yeah... this is long overdue, lol. I originally intended to upload this around the middle of May but life and basically everything in it got in the way. Like I said, FFN isn't really my main thing, haha.**

**Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh: TYSM for the review! "Watching Future Mistakes" is actually one of my main inspirations for this, as you may be able to tell, so again, thank you! Oooh, "Not Lout" is a really good one. Adding that to the list of episodes to do in the future!**

**OrangeCat64: Eh, I dunno, I'd say the other Riders have the _potential_ to become better singers. With a lot of practice, that is. Ruffnut's fine albeit a little, well, rough. Hiccup needs more control over his voice, and Tuffnut needs to be less dramatic. Which, knowing Tuffnut, is impossible. As for Astrid... well... Astrid's kinda hopeless. Sorry Astrid, love you as a character, but just.. no.**

**Without further ado, enjoy this chapter!  
**

* * *

**Original episode was written by Art Brown and Douglas Sloan, and directed by T.J. Sullivan**

* * *

**The screen fades from black to showcase some beautiful scenery above a forest, Fishlegs' voice can be heard in the background as he and Meatlug fly into view.**

**"Okay," Fishlegs is seen holding a piece of parchment and looking over the forest, "That's 542,"**

The Vikings wondered for a brief second what the Rider was counting before understanding as the next few moments played out.

**"43-" He counts before spotting something and pointing, "Oh, there's one hiding under that tree trunk!"**

**The camera cuts to reveal Night Terrors nesting in the trees as Fishlegs squeals, "I see you, little guy."**

**The perspective changes to behind the trees as Fishlegs counts another Night Terror, "You're 544."**

**The Night Terror screeches as the camera switches to him talking to Meatlug, "Isn't this exciting, girl?" He holds up the parchment, "The first annual Dragon's Edge census."**

"Oh, I remember this!" Fishlegs said, "This was a _really_ long time ago!"

"Uh, what's a 'census', again?" Gustav asked from somewhere in the crowd, speaking what was on many of the Vikings' minds.

"Oh!" Fishlegs started as Snotlout prepared to roll his eyes for another one of his lectures, "Glad you asked! A 'census' is-"

"A census," Tuffnut explained interrupting and cutting off Fishlegs' incoming lecture, "is the procedure of systematically acquiring-"

Ruffnut continued, "-and recording information about the members of a given population."

"Which means-?" Snotlout asked as many of the Vikings blinked in either surprise or confusion at the Twins' complex vocabulary.

"It's a checklist of how many of each dragon species we had on the Edge," Hiccup dumbed it down as the Vikings 'Ooh'ed.

"Hm," Stoick approved with a nod, having created and used multiple censuses in his life, to keep track of the Village's livestock and population, being the Chief and all, "Smart."

"Only Fishface can get excited about something as lame as a checklist," Snotlout snarked, smirking at the clearly unamused and scowling Fishlegs.

**"Once we get all these Night Terrors counted," Fishlegs continued as his dragon gave a smile, "We move on to the Gronckles."**

"Ah, so they're called Night Terrors, then?" Stoick asked. The tiny, black dragons could be seen nearly everywhere on the Edge by every visitor, so they weren't all that surprised whenever they appeared on screen, but none of them had ever caught their species' name.

"Yep," Astrid confirmed as Ruffnut continued, "Ironically, having Night Terrors around to protect us kept us from having, well, _actual_ night terrors."

"Always did love those little guys," Fishlegs sighed happily before turning to his dragon, "Not as much as you, though, girl."

**The two laughed as Fishlegs gave Meatlug a comforting rub on the head, "Maybe you'll make some new friends!"**

**They landed in a clearing, optimistic and happy, "Okay," ****Fishlegs looked around almost too enthusiastically, "****There's a big flock."**

The entire Hall smirked silently and fondly at the boy's enthusiasm.

**The camera cut to show a couple of Night Terrors sleeping on the rocks while he counted, "575, 576.."**

**Suddenly, a Fireworm dropped from the sky, landing on Fishlegs' parchment. Fishlegs gasped in surprise as the camera switches perspective, the parchment having been revealed to be a map, while the Fireworm crawled along.**

**"Oh, hello," Fishlegs greeted before screaming and falling to the ground as the map lit on fire, "Ahh!"**

**Meatlug crooned in concern as Fishlegs got up, the lone Fireworm flying in the air while the map continued to burn.**

The Riders, all realising what day this was, all groaned while the Twins grinned sheepishly. Try as they might to deny it or play it off, the Twins both knew that their reign was less than glorious. Far from it, in fact. Destruction and chaos was great and all, but it was way greater when it didn't backfire on them.

Meanwhile, the Vikings raised their eyebrows, at both the Riders' groans and the appearance of the Fireworm, and silently asked the same question;

**"What is a Fireworm doing this far out?" Fishlegs wondered, "They aren't supposed to be anywhere near our island. Eh, could've lost its way."**

"If only." Hiccup grimaced.

**He grabbed a new map from Meatlug's saddlebag and studied it, "Now, where were we, Meatlug? Was it 576," He continued in his attempt at a cool voice while another Fireworm landed on a bush in the background, "Or was it 675?"**

"Seriously?" Snotlout snarked. The Ingermans turned to Fishlegs, amused. Fishlegs wasn't the type to forget, so they, the Riders and many of the other Vikings knew that he only wanted an excuse to spend more time counting.

"What?" Fishlegs shrugged in an attempt at defending himself, "It's fun!"

**The bush was set alight as Fishlegs paused before sniffing the air and turning around, "Woah!" He hurried to put out the bushfire, "Woah, woah!"**

**He blowed and grunted, basically slapping the fire with his map in an attempt to extinguish the flames.**

**"Whew," He sighed in relief as the fires were put out.**

**The map burst into flame.**

The reaction to that was a melting pot of various expressions. Some gave Fishlegs sympathetic looks, others gave him looks of pity, a few grimaced, some winced, and others either chuckled or laughed.

**"Woah!" Fishlegs screamed, throwing the map away. The screen faded to show the Gang flying over the now burning forest, Fishlegs and Meatlug closest to the camera.**

**"It began with one Fireworm," Fishlegs explained, "and as we were flying back, we kept seeing more and more."**

**Astrid narrowed her eyes, "Do you think they're migrating?"**

**"If they were migrating," Hiccup piped in, "The whole island would be on fire."**

**"Not necessarily," Fishlegs pointed out as Snotlout rolled his eyes, "Here we go!"**

"Oh, here we go!" Snotlout complained, mirroring his past self's actions as Fishlegs huffed.

**"When Fireworms migrate," Fishlegs elaborated, "they send out scouts to see if their migration route is safe. If this is a stop along that route-"**

**"-An entire flock of Fireworms could be coming through here," Astrid realised and the Twins and their dragon caught up from behind.**

**"Well, I say bring 'em on!" Tuffnut pumped up his fist before resting his head on one of Belch's horns, "I love those little scorchers."**

"I rescind that statement!" Tuffnut shouted out loud to the shocked gasps of pretty much the entire Hall.

"Yeah," Ruffnut grumpily agreed, adding even more to the Vikings' surprise. Some even pinched themselves, or got their own dragons to bite them, to see if they weren't dreaming. They would've thought, of all the Vikings in the world, that those two would've simply _loved_ the destruction and chaos that the Fireworms could cause.

"Eh," Snotlout shrugged, they were still pretty cute in his very manly opinion, "Speak for yourselves."

"Are-are they possessed?" Gobber asked the Thorston Parents, completely ignoring Snotlout's comment, who could only stare dumbly at their children. They knew that no matter what, the Twins would never grow to dislike destructive mayhem, so the problem lay within the Fireworms, or something else. Surely, if even the Twins grew to dislike whatever the Fireworms did, something truly terrible must've happened.

"S-should I get Gothi?" He continued as the entire Hall, as one, turned to stare at the Riders, who stifled their laughs at the Village's expressions. The Riders only gestured towards the screen when the Vikings cocked an eyebrow in unison.

**"Are you still gonna love them when they all land here and burn our entire island to the ground?" Hiccup deadpanned.**

"...No.." Tuffnut drawled under his breath.

**"Yes! Wait, no," Tuffnut turned to look at Hiccup, "Wait, is that a trick question? Because it's pretty tricky."**

**"Fishlegs," Astrid called ignoring the male twin, "How much time do we have?"**

**"Uh, it's hard to say. If it's a full migration, the rest of them could be here.." Fishlegs paused, doing a bit of mental maths, "..As soon as next week."**

**"Hah!" Snotlout remarked with faux nonchalance, "Good to know."**

**Hookfang roared, rearing back as Snotlout continued, "It's been nice knowing you, island. Snotlout is outlout!"**

"Uh, yeah," Ruffnut snickered, "I think Snotlout went 'outlout' waayyy before that."

"Oh-hoh!" Astrid made an 'O' shape with her mouth, "He definitely did."

"Oh, shut up," Snotlout scowled. Fishlegs, Spitelout, and many of the other Vikings, obviously confused, turned to face them with raised eyebrows, which only made them chuckle even harder. No disrespect to Snotlout, of course. It was just hilarious how much of an obvious _disaster_ he was and how _somehow_ nobody else knew.

**"We're not abandoning the island, Snotlout," Hiccup sighed as he and Toothless dived down.**

**"Uh," Snotlout snarked, "Yeah, we are. Watch."**

**Hookfang screeched as he and Snotlout reared back, Hiccup and Toothless flying in front of them.**

**"Guys," Hiccup spoke, "We put too much hard work into this place to just leave! Snotlout is not 'outlout'."**

"Pretty sure he is," Astrid smirked amusedly, adding to the Vikings' confusion.

"Not my fault that Thor was amazing," Snotlout grumbled and muttered under his breath, too quietly for anyone but himself to hear, "And strong, brave and-" His mutters soon became unintelligible.

**"We're staying. Now let's get to work."**

**"Fine!" Snotlout gave in, "But I still like my plan better."**

**He and Hookfang flew off as the scene cuts to show Astrid and Stormfly flying towards the Clubhouse, Hiccup's voice coming from offscreen, "Okay, Astrid, you and Fishlegs filled the watering troughs, right?"**

**"Yep!" Astrid confirmed as the camera cut to revealed the gang, minus the Twins, sitting in the clubhouse, "Topped off all the barrels, too."**

**Astrid has her back turned towards the camera, Snotlout is leaning in a chair with his feet crossed on the table, Hiccup is sitting ON the table with his legs spread out like a gangster, and Fishlegs is pretty much the only one sitting like a normal person. Meanwhile, Toothless is seen running around in the background.**

Hiccup let out a chuckle at seeing Toothless's antics.

**"Ooh," Fishlegs raised a hand, "I found a perfect cave for the Night Terrors!"**

**The camera switches to focus on him, "High enough and desolate enough so the flame won't get near them."**

**"Perfect," Hiccup smiled, "Good job, guys."**

**He lifted a piece of paper in his hand, "Now, if the Twins would finally get back, we could find out what they've done."**

**"Oh!" Snotlout smirked in his seat, "I can tell you what they've done:" He waved his hand around, "Zero, zip, zilch,"  
**

Once again, the Zippleback known as Zip and Zilch looked around for whoever called their names, earning quite a few chuckles from the crowd around them.

**"I'm forgetting something.. Oh yeah, goose egg!"**

Snotlout tried and failed at flirting again as he turned to Ruffnut, "You know I didn't mean it, babe."

The Twins both glared at him.

**"Oh, contrary, my fine fellow," Tuffnut interrupted, causing Snotlout to jump in surprise. The camera panned around to reveal the Twins standing at the entrance of the Clubhouse, Ruffnut leaning against the wall as her brother spoke, "We have done quite a lot, actually."**

The Vikings raised their eyebrows.

**"Did you clear the brush?" Hiccup asked.**

**"Uh.." Tuffnut pondered for a moment, "No."**

**"Build a fire break?"**

**"Nope," Ruffnut answered, "Not that."**

**"How about water?" Astrid asked, "Did you bring any back?"**

**"Couldn't," Tuffnut shrugged, "Too busy."**

**"Busy with what?" Hiccup asked incredulously.**

**"Finding something... awesome!" Ruffnut leaned forwards, her arms still crossed.**

The already-raised-eyebrows of the Vikings went up even further.

**The camera cuts to reveal a rather large rock, with runes inscribed on it, sitting on the grass.**

Stoick and Gobber, having recognised the stone and remembering what had happened, smirked. Now they were going to see what else had ensued. This was going to be _good_. With the Twins running the island, there were bound to be headaches and hilarity approaching. In fact, they were both quite surprised that the Edge hadn't been blown up yet.

**"Behold!" Ruffnut called, "We call it... the Namey Rock!"**

**"And why is that?" Astrid approached from behind, gesturing incredulously.**

**"Duh," Tuffnut smirked, looking as high as a kite before gesturing towards the rock, "'Cause it has our name all over it."**

**Tuffnut punched his palm, "Cool, huh?"**

"Oh, sweet, naive little past me," Tuffnut sighed, "If only you knew."

**"Oh, yeah!" Snotlout sarcastically replied, "I mean, NO."**

**He facepalmed, "Man, you two are completely ridiculous."**

"You only realised it then?" Hiccup asked as Astrid chuckled.

**"Ridiculous? Perhaps," Ruffnut shrugged before gesturing smugly, "But, answer me this- Where's your namey rock?"**

**She put her hand to her ear, flitting her eyes around as she awaited an answer. Snotlout groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.**

**The Twins laughed and banged their helmets together, grunting and snickering.**

**"Uh, Hiccup?" Fishlegs called with a hint of fear in his voice, "You might want to come take a closer look at this."**

**Hiccup walked forwards, as Fishlegs continued, "I think it's a claim stone."**

The Hall went silent. Any murmurs, discussions and gossip immediately ceased as they heard those six terrible words.

**"'I, Magmar Thorston," Hiccup read, "hereby claim this island in my name and the name of all my family present and future, forever and ever.'"**

**"And? What else?" Tuffnut smirked as he stood beside Hiccup, who continued reading, "'And ever,' apparently."**

The entire Hall gasped, and stared at the screen in abject _horror_. No. No, no, no, no, no! Surely not? It could've been fake, it _had_ to be! The _Thorstons_ running the Edge? This was madness! They held their tongues and tried not to faint or scream as they spotted the rest of the Thorston family looking at the screen greedily. Hungrily, even. The Edge, an _entire island_, was rightfully theirs for the taking.

**"Hah!" Tuffnut laughed, "Long-lost great Uncle Magmar!"**

"Wasn't he the one who could pass an entire cod through one nostril?" Lars, one of the Twins' many cousins, who, as it turned out, did _not_ have his head severed, much to Fishlegs' relief, asked.

**"Oh, my Thor!" Tuffnut grabbed the side of his own head, "Wasn't he the one who could pass an entire cod through one nostril?"**

"Eww!" The Vikings gagged in disgust while Lars blinked. They did NOT need that mental image in their heads.

"Welp," Gobber deadpanned, "Looks like none of us are gettin' any sleep tonight."

**"And debone it at the same time?" Ruffnut added, "It's really a lost art."**

The Vikings all turned to look at the Thorstons incredulously as the family nodded in agreement, much to everyone's utmost disgust.

**Tuffnut shook his head, "People just don't appreciate the craftsmanship."**

**"Oh, come on!" Snotlout shouted in disbelief, "That stone is a fake! It's so obvious that these two made it up."**

**"I don't think so!" Fishlegs retorted, "For one thing, everything is spelled correctly."**

**Snotlout paused, "Okay, you may have a point."**

Now, _that_, got a few faints from the crowd.

**"Let me get this straight," Astrid uncrossed her arms and pointed at the Twins, "_These_ two, own _this_ island?"**

**"It would appear that way," Fishlegs confirmed.**

"Da-da-da," Hiccup couldn't stop himself from using his sarcasm despite already knowing what had happened, "We're dead."

**"Yeah!" Ruffnut pumped up her fist as Tuffnut cheered, "In your face!"**

**"We are _so_ in charge of this place!" Ruffnut grinned as Tuffnut whooped, "Oh! Preach, sister!"**

**"Well," Ruffnut sang, "According to this stone-"**

**"That was a rhetorical preach," Tuffnut slammed his hand against Ruffnut's mouth.**

**"Hey!" Tuffnut pushed her aside to walk forwards, "Where are you going, subject?"**

**"Hah!" Snotlout is shown already mounting Hookfang, "You may be in charge of this island, but you're not in charge of me."**

"Hah!" Stoick and Spitelout scoffed in unison, both for very similar and yet very different reasons.

"He's a Jorgenson," Spitelout cheered, puffing his chest out, "We don't take orders from anyone!"

"That much is true," Stoick huffed dryly in mock defeat, Spitelout giving him an equally mocking glare. Just like Valka, Stoick smiled as he thought amusedly to himself. Hiccup, too. Vikings were never really the 'listening' type, but anyone with the slightest hint of Jorgenson blood made that especially true.

**"Ah, ah!" Tuffnut pointed towards his helmet, "Respect the crown. Don't make us get ugly."**

**"That ship sailed a long time ago."**

A collective cry of "OHH!" spread throughout the Hall. Snotlout, as smug and dramatic as ever, took off his helmet and bowed to the laughing crowd, posing as if he were a gentleman tipping a hat, "Thank you, thank you," he smirked before putting his helmet back on with another, smaller, tip, "I try."

The Twins grumbled unhappily, as did the rest of the Thorstons. Since all the Thorstons shared an almost eerily striking family resemblance, as was evident to any Viking that even took a moment to look at them, to call the Twins ugly was to call pretty much the entire family ugly.

**Ruffnut punched her brother on the arm, Tuffnut for once looking seriously mad as she pointed finger-guns at him, "Ugly!"**

Ruffnut, now far wiser than her past self, believe it or not, grumbled as she realised that the insult was meant for the both of them and not just her muttonheaded brother.

**"Clearly, we'll need a dungeon." Tuffnut brooded, rubbing his arm before Hiccup stood between them. **

**"Okay," Hiccup started, "Let's all just take a breath and-" He pressed onto Tuffnut's shoulder and glared at him, "-calm down!"**

**"The first thing we need to do," Hiccup turned away, "is get this claim stone authenticated."**

The Vikings sucked in their breaths. _Please_, they all quietly begged, _please_ be a fake. They didn't even want to think of the horrors that the Twins, let alone the whole Thorston family, would come up with and get up to if they ever claimed ownership of an entire island filled with a large population of wild dragons.

**The scene cuts to reveal Gobber's blue eye peering through a glass, "Hmm," he hummed before the eye was replaced by his mouth, "I see."**

**"Well, Gobber?" Stoick asks as the camera cuts to show he and Hiccup standing behind Gobber, who is seen studying the stone with a small telescope. **

**"Give me a minute," The blacksmith gestured, knocking his hammer-hand-****prosthetic-thing on the rock and sniffing a pebble, before proceeding to eat it, "Mm-hmm!" He crunched, licking his lips, "Very interesting."**

**He swallowed, "Tastes right to me, Stoick."**

"Uh," Snotlout looked utterly weirded out as Fishlegs stammered, narrowing his eyes incredulously, "Did..did he just swallow a rock?"

"Awesome!" The Twins cheered, "We gotta try that out sometime!"

"What in the-" Astrid was just as weirded out as most of the other Vikings.

"Think that's weird?" Hiccup smirked at their expressions, "I once saw him eat a dagger!" It was a surprisingly slow day at the forge, so very long ago, but still so vivid in his memory. Hiccup had been experiencing a rare case of a creative block that day and didn't have any ideas for drawing or inventing, and neither he nor Gobber were tired enough to take a nap. Needless to say, both of them had been really, _really _bored that day, and, well, what better way to pass the time than to try out one of those knife-eating stunts they'd heard about from one of _traitor Johann's_ tales?

"Hah!" Stoick laughed, "That's nothin- I once saw him eat a hammer!" That hammer, he conveniently failed to mention, was his own father's, and the whole ordeal was part of a dare. He, Alvin and Gobber got grounded for nearly a year that day. He chuckled at the memory, Gobber was a lunatic at times, but that was a part of his Gobber-ry charm.

Gobber smirked as he remembered those two days while the rest of the entire Hall, with the exception of Dagur and the Twins, who thought it was awesome and wanted to try it out some time, stared at him, completely speechless. Hey, if he could survive eating Valka's cooking, he could survive swallowing anything.

"_No_," Mala finally found her voice when she noticed her husband's eager expression, "You are _not_ swallowing a hammer."

Dagur pouted, "But-"

"_No_." Heather and Mala said in unison, Sleuther and Windshear looking at him with the same sternness.

**He turned around, the scene switching to reveal the Twins standing behind him as well, "This claim stone is 100% authentic."**

Oh no.

**"Aw, yeah!" Ruffnut cheered, spreading her arms out as if to hug the sky, while Tuffnut whooped, "Authentic!"**

_Oh no._

**They both dropped to their knees as Ruffnut pumped her fists, "100%! No more percents to be had, folks!"**

No. No, no, no, no, no! A thousand 'No's. No, a MILLION 'No's. The Vikings were absolutely _mortified. _No_, beyond _mortified_. _They paled_. _They panicked_. _They hyperventilated. They fainted. Some of them even screamed. The Thorstons? In charge of an entire island? Hah, they might as well burn the entire archipelago to the ground! Heck, some of the Vikings in the crowd were _already_ planning their own funerals. The Thorstons would probably declare war on the entire world, and actually _win_, and not even realise it, all because of their sheer chaotic stupidity and brilliance! It was an entire island full of wild dragons, and an entire family full of, well, _Thorstons_! Who knows what could happen?

No, they could already picture it. The entire world, burned to a crisp. They were almost as afraid as they were when they first laid eyes on the Red Death. In fact, they were shocked beyond relief that the Edge hadn't been burnt down. True, the volcano had long erupted, and it was a bit trampled due to all the battles that had taken place there, but it was only a matter of time before the land and wildlife recovered. But with the Thorstons? They were so predictably unpredictable, and it was horrifying.

**"That's good, right?" Tuffnut asked as Gobber and Stoick looked quite underreacting to the fact that the Twins were given authority over an entire island.**

**"Uh-uh," Astrid protested while Hiccup stood, wide-eyed, as if trying to process what he'd just heard, "No!"**

**"No!" Snotlout screamed.**

**"What?!" Fishlegs screeched, "No! No way."**

The Vikings joined in on the protests, "This can't be happening." "I knew it! The end of all things good!" "Ragnarok is here!"

**The other Riders continued their protests as Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose, "All right, that's enough!" He turned, "It looks like this island officially belongs.. to the Twins."**

"Yes!" The rest of the Thorston family shrieked rather greedily. Meanwhile, to the confuddlement of basically the entire Great Hall, the Twins looked uncharacteristically gloomy. Depressed, even. They really hadn't meant to get the entire Edge nearly burned down, but they did it anyway. The one thing they didn't want to destroy, other than their friends and family, and they nearly did it anyway. It was why they'd hired Astrid to clear the brush, wasn't it? It wasn't even fun to watch. They wanted their reign to be glorious, but really, it was more like.. the Reign of Fireworms.

The Vikings all stared at the Riders as if they were ghosts. "H-how are you still alive?" One asked. Another turned to the Chief and Gobber, "How were you so calm?!" The Riders shrugged, only gesturing to the screen in reply as the Twins sulked. Stoick only crossed his arms and scoffed, "It was only the Twins. It's not like I was about to tell the rest of the Thorston family back here on Berk," He received a glare from the Thorstons at that, to which he returned with thrice the ferocity, "I'm not an idiot."

Spitelout and Gobber snorted.

"Besides," Stoick continued, "I believe the issue was resolved at the end, wasn't it, Hiccup?"

"Yep," Hiccup confirmed, popping the 'P'.

The Vikings calmed down quite drastically, but still remained wary as they once again noticed the Twins, strangely enough, sulking against their dragon, though not for the reasons they'd imagined.

"Hey," Astrid asked in concern, "..You guys okay?"

"Yeah," They responded.

The other Riders exchanged worried glances, but didn't press on. They knew that the Twins still felt guilty over the whole ordeal, seeing as the two mentioned it often, but had never seen them act so depressed over it. In fact, they'd never seen them so _quiet_ about it.

**"It's our island now!" Tuffnut sang as he and his sister danced, "We got the island!"**

**"We got an island!" They continued, dancing and twirling around each other, "And you can't have it! The island is ours!"**

**Tuffnut continued singing while Hiccup and Astrid turned to look at each other, uncertain, "We don't have to do anything or take any showers!"**

"Uh, Yeah." Astrid deadpanned, trying to lighten the unnecessarily and over-dramatically tense mood, "You guys don't even take showers that much anyway."

It didn't work.

"Y-yeah!" Hiccup added, catching on to what Astrid was trying to do, "The only one who takes less showers than you guys is Gobber."

Still didn't work. In fact, the mocking glare that Gobber sent them only added to unneeded tension.

"Wow," Dagur whispered to no-one in particular, raising one of his daggers from seemingly nowhere, "The atmosphere's so thick, you could cut it with this dagger!"

Despite the so-called already aforementioned unnecessarily thick atmosphere, the Vikings and their dragons who'd heard what he said rolled their eyes at his joke.

**The screen cuts to black, and then switches immediately to reveal the cliff from a higher perspective. The Twins are shown down on one knee, helmets off, as the Chief approaches them. Gobber and the other Riders are standing in behind him, with Toothless, Barf and Belch behind them.**

**"Ahem," Stoick called, "As Chief of Berk," He drew out his sword and walked forwards, "I hereby declare that under Viking law, the living heirs to Magmar Thorston are indeed entitled to full ownership of this island."**

**He lightly pressed the tip of his sword on each of their shoulders before raising his sword back up and rolling his eyes, "with all the benefits that comes with it."**

**"Now, what?" Tuffnut asked quizzically.**

**"Don't ask me," Stoick sheathed his sword and shrugged, "It's your island."**

"Well," Mala commented, "This is certainly going to be.. interesting."

"You can say that again." Heather replied, amusedly.

**He and Gobber moved to walk off, Gobber giving a smug chuckle as they went by.**

**"Oh!" Ruffnut chirped as the Twins put their helmets back on and danced while they sang,**

_**"Yes! This is our island!**_

_**It's not your island!**_

_**You cannot have it!**_

_**No, no, no. Ugly!**_

_**Because it's ours!"**_

**"Now, Dad, Dad, Dad," Hiccup paced towards the two leaving adults as they turned around and stopped, "You can't be serious."**

**He gestured to the still dancing and singing Twins, "You're not leaving me with this?"**

**"It's our island!" Tuffnut shouted as Stoick grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders, "Uh, yes, I am."**

**"Welcome to my world," He stated with a hint of smugness as if trying not to laugh. He turned to leave, "Only now, it's your world!"**

**"Ho, ho!" Gobber laughed, "It's your world!"**

"Oh, ho!" Dagur smirked, turning towards the two adults, "You guys are just cruel."

"Hah," Hiccup smirked back, "You don't even know the half of it."

"Oi!" Gobber shrieked as Stoick glared sternly, hands on his hips, "Now, what's that supposed to mean?"

After all, Stoick thought, this would be a good learning experience for his son. He had to deal with Spitelout, the Thorstons, and a few others competing to replace him ever since the day he became Chief, and seeing as Hiccup was bound to become Chief one day, he saw no problem with giving Hiccup a tiny taste of what it was like, to gain some field experience. Come to think of it, he _was_ getting a bit old, and had been planning his retirement for quite a while now, and since Hiccup was nearly twenty...

**Hiccup stood there for a second as Toothless, Snotlout, and Fishlegs approached from behind, "Great, what do we do now? Any ideas?"**

**"Oh," Snotlout suggested, "We could always.." He sliced a finger around his neck and hissed, "You know."**

Snotlout backed away and into Hookfang's protection as the entire Thorston family turned around to glare at him.

"Hey, don't hold me accountable!" He tried defending himself to no avail, "This was like, a year ago!"

**"We're not killing the Twins, Snotlout."**

**Astrid approached as Snotlout looked downcasted, "Please tell me we're not giving them the island."**

**"Actually," Hiccup turned around to look at the Twins, "We are."**

**He smiled confidently, "We are giving them the island."**

**Snotlout laughed sarcastically before pausing and looking at him incredulously, "What?"**

"Huh," Gobber mused to himself, sharing the same thoughts as his friend, "Quick turnaround." He and Stoick hadn't really expected him to take to the Twins' rulership that easily, unless there was some sort of ulterior plan or motive. Which, knowing Hiccup, was probably true.

"Yeah, hate to agree with Snotpocket here," Dagur narrowed his eyes while Snotlout silently fumed at the nickname, snickering a little as he saw him do so, "I really do, but... what?"

**"First of all," Hiccup pointed out, "We don't really have a choice."**

**"And second," Hiccup crossed his arms, "Once they find out being in charge isn't everything it's cracked up to be, and they have to deal with the Fireworm problem on their own," He turned his head and gestured, "They will beg us to take the island back."**

The Riders gave Hiccup a glare. Said one-legged Viking sighed, "Why do I always have to jinx it and eat my own words?"

"Bad idea," Gobber mused, nudging Stoick in the shoulders, "Remember when you and Val had to leave for a visit to the Bog Burglars' and you left Spitelout in charge?"

"Wait, he did?" Hiccup asked curiously as Stoick and many of the older villagers nodded and groaned, each earning a glare from Spitelout.

"Aye. By the time we got back," Stoick had his face in one of his large hands, as if getting an immense headache from the memory, "He'd built two and a half life-sized statues of himself, drove the village mad, and spent nearly half of Berk's gold on mead."

And that was the reason why Stoick usually left the Council in charge if he ever needed to leave Berk.

"Of course he did," Snotlout sighed to himself, taking extra care not to be heard, "He's Dad."

Unknowing, of course, of the fact that he would've done the exact same thing if he were in that very same situation. Sober, too.

"Bah, it wasn't my fault!" Spitelout protested, "Someone spiked all my drinks, I swear it!"

"Sure, Spitelout," Gobber deadpanned, "And Gothi has good drawing skills."

"Ow!" He got hit in the head by said old lady.

The Riders couldn't help but giggle at the tale, and at Gobber's pain. Oh, their own experiences with the Twins' reign was far, far worse. It was perhaps a petty thought, but they -or at least, a small part of them- couldn't wait for the two to witness the suffering they'd gone through in 'Thorstonton'.

**The others looked unsure as Astrid spoke, "And if they don't?"**

**The camera cuts to the Twins still celebrating, "It's our island! Man, how great is this?"**

Astrid rolled her eyes, "We get it, it's your island."

The Twins didn't respond with anything more than a sheepish shrug. Needless to say, the Riders were very, very worried. The Twins were _never_ this quiet.

**They banged their helmets together and stepped back with a grunt.**

**"I'm fine," Tuffnut said as the two collapsed on the floor, the other Riders staring in disbelief and worry. Toothless growled with widened eyes and walked off, while Snotlout pinched the bridge of his nose.**

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah," Hiccup jokingly scolded in an echo of the past, "Where did you think you were going?"

Toothless snorted, and, not so humbly suppressed a gurgle of laughter at his past self's actions. He was only pretending to head out to prove a point; no way was he going to spend any amount of time under the Twins' rule.

**The scene changes to reveal a lone fireworm flying into the woods. Then two more, setting fire to their surroundings as they land, and more, and more, and you get the idea. A forest fire is started, pretty small and containable, but a forest fire nonetheless. The camera pans upwards to show the Riders' huts looming in the distance.**

"Well," Tuffnut spoke for the first time in quite a while, "that's not ominous at all."

**"Okay," Tuffnut is heard speaking offscreen while Hiccup is shown reading a book while lying on Toothless' back, "A little bit higher."**

**Hiccup lowers the book, which is revealed to be the Book of Dragons, with a neutral pout while Tuffnut continues, "No, no, no, to the left. Yes! No."**

Astrid smiled shyly to herself. She hadn't told him yet, but Hiccup's tendency to pout was pretty adorable. She was also quite amused, as was most of the hall, at how Hiccup had positioned himself atop of Toothless.

Stoick smirked. He'd often seen those two asleep or relaxing while checking in on them in Hiccup's room, and they always would twist every which way in order to be comfortable. He could see that even now, things had not changed.

**Curious as to what the Twins were up to now, Hiccup got down from Toothless' back and closed the book. He and Toothless stood up as Tuffnut continued speaking, "Little to the right."**

**They shared a look before walking towards the sound, as Ruffnut complained from offscreen, "Would you come on already? My entire body is going numb."**

**"Feels kinda cool," She admitted as Hiccup walked out of the clubhouse. "Hey, let's ask Hiccup," Tuffnut suggested. What convenient timing.**

**Hiccup turned around to face the Twins, which he somehow knew were on the roof, "Let's ask Hiccup what?"**

**The Twins are shown standing on each of their dragon's heads and holding up a wooden sign, with horribly misspelled runes, as Tuffnut replied, "Our new Thorstonton sign, does it need to be a little higher?"**

"They renamed the place to 'Thorstonton'?" Heather asked, crossing her arms with a curious look.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied, "The Twins are really inconsistent with their naming quality."

Meanwhile, however, the Thorstons were staring at the screen with hunger, mulling over the Twins' choice of a name. 'Thorstonton'. Call themselves conceited, which they probably were to some degree, but they liked it. The Thorston Parents, meanwhile, sighed at the Twins' misspelled sign. They'd long since given up on teaching those two how to spell. Well, at least the handwriting was somewhat intelligible.

**"Thorstonton?" Hiccup asked.**

**"Yeah," Ruffnut replied, "The name of our island."**

**Tuffnut squinted, "It came to us in a dream."**

**He dropped the sign to gesture with his fingers while Ruffnut yelled in the background, "That's right- Same dream. It's a twin thing."**

**Ruffnut struggles with the sign while Tuffnut waves his hand down, "You wouldn't understand. Anyway, thoughts on the sign?"  
**

**Ruff dropped it, breaking the wood of the floor.**

The entire Hall winced, Twins included. That wasn't fun to fix.

**"You know what? Never mind."**

**Toothless is shown walking behind Hiccup as Tuffnut continued, "We got more important things on our agenda today."**

**"I agree," Hiccup said as Barf and Belch walked off, the Twins still standing perfectly balanced on their heads, "We need to keep fireproofing the island."**

"Dude," Snotlout sighed, "You put way too much faith in them."

**"No, no, no, that's not it."**

**They stopped, "We need to give out job assignments."**

All the other Riders, with the exception of Snotlout, who loved being the Sergeant at Arms, groaned.

The Vikings, seeing the Riders' reactions, looked at one another, a little scared to go on.

**"Job assignments?" Hiccup grimaced as he and Toothless shared a look.**

**"Oh," Tuffnut turned around as Ruffnut smirked, "We got some good ones. Come along, lad. Don't be late."**

**Hiccup mounted Toothless as the group flew off, the scene fading the show all the Riders gathered in the Arena.**

**"All right, Fishlegs," Tuffnut called, reading from a piece of parchment, "Says here; you are now the official poet laureate of Thorstonton."**

**"Do you even know what that means?" Fishlegs asked as Ruffnut gestured, "We were hoping you would! It's your job, after all!"**

"What _does_ laureate mean, anyway?" Tuffnut asked, stroking his chin in concentration while even the smartest Vikings of Berk, which was generally, with the exception of the Riders, not that smart, furrowed their brows in confusion. Despite being a self-proclaimed language and vocabulary connoisseur, he was still, well, Tuffnut, and he and his sister often got words confused.

"I'm actually not too sure myself," Hiccup blinked in realisation as Fishlegs nodded, "All the dictionaries are really vague and divided on this."

"I think it means 'Worthy of the greatest honour or distinction'?" Heather piped in as Astrid added, "I thought it was just some random adjective used in positive contexts?"

"I think it's actually a noun, but yeah," Hiccup shrugged, "It's really confusing."

"Really boring's more like it," Snotlout interrupted, "Can we get on with this?! I wanna see more of my handsomeness."

He turned towards Ruffnut for another attempt at flirting, "And I'm sure my babe wants that, too."

The other Riders either rolled their eyes or gave him a scowl, but let the subject drop. He did have a point, after all. They wanted to continue watching, as did most of the other Vikings.

**Fishlegs stared blankly, as if allowing any emotion to show on his face would cause him to erupt.**

**"Astrid," Tuffnut called as Fishlegs blinked, the camera switching to Astrid, her face clearly annoyed but still somehow managing to keep calm, "You are the official royal brush-clearer."**

Brush clearing? The Hofferson Parents gave a small chuckle at that, growing louder at the sight of Astrid's amused glare. Astrid was always pretty independent when it came to doing daily tasks, and she wasn't the type of child to do chores that others had assigned her to, especially not after Finn the Fearless died. She'd always rather be spending her time flinging axes at trees. She preferred to do tasks and whatever needed to be done of her own accord, and they always needed to be functional.

If she was to say, clean a shield, it would be because a shield would be much more effective in battle when clean, and not because of the aesthetic purposes of making the shield look nice. Even the clothes she wore would have a functional purpose, as the fabric was easy to move around in while the pauldrons and the other metal parts would be able to protect her. Looking nice was just an added bonus. Not that she didn't appreciate beauty and all, but it was never really her main reason for doing things.

Even after the whole fiasco with the Red Death and the end of the 300 Year War, as her obsession with becoming a shieldmaiden and restoring the family's honour had calmed down quite a bit, she would still be much more likely be seen flinging axes into trees, now with Stormfly joining her, flinging her tail-spikes at trees, than doing simple chores assigned by others solely for the purpose of "Prettying things up".

All in all, she would be less than enthused at the idea of clearing brush as a job. Especially since clearing brush was, in her eyes, just over-glorified gardening.

The rest of the Vikings had reached pretty much the same conclusion. Fishlegs would've been a better option for brush-clearing, they thought. After all, the boy did show great interest in botany and gardening.

"Man," Fishlegs whined a little, as Astrid turned around in her seat to look at him, "We should've traded jobs."

"Well," Astrid supposed, "Better than being a poet."

She nodded her head towards Hiccup, the latter having turned around to join the conversation, "Well, at least you guys weren't the 'Table Boy'," He rolled his eyes at their chuckles, he was never going to live that down, "Honestly, I think I'd prefer being the poet. We all should've traded jobs."

"Really?" Astrid smirked, "I didn't know you liked poetry."

"Hey, poetry's writing, and writing's like drawing with words, and I like drawing." Hiccup shrugged, "It could work... probably."

"Eh, too late, I guess," Fishlegs shrugged, "This was so long ago, and here we are talking about what we should've done."

"Yeah," Tuffnut suddenly joined the discussion, "Didn't we do this, like, two weeks ago?"

His query was met with silent grimaces. They preferred not thinking about that first night when they discovered that Stoick had been rendered unconscious. Hiccup visibly winced, and Astrid gave the twin a glare.

"He does make a point, you know," Fishlegs broke the silence, earning looks from the others, "Why's the Witch showing us all this? I guess I can get showing our parents what we've been doing, but that doesn't seem like a really convincing answer to me."

"Uh.. self-reflection?" Hiccup supplied, "But we've done plenty of that."

"Well, these moving-picture-things show what happened from different perspectives," Astrid theorised, "Maybe there's still a few things we need to learn?"

"Learn about what, though?" Tuffnut asked, "We know pretty much everything about the Dragon Eye and the Dragon Hunters."

"Maybe we need to learn more about each other?" Hiccup suggested, "But we've lived together for an entire year, I don't really think there's much more to learn."

"To be fair, that's what we said about each other _before_ we all decided to move into the Edge, since we all worked in the Academy together," Astrid pointed out, "And we still learned a lot."

"Yeah," Tuffnut added with a smirking glance towards Snotlout, who was sitting at a different table picking his nose and trying to flirt with Ruffnut, "Like how old 'S' over there's obsessed with his own name."

"Says the one who literally renamed Dragon's Edge after your surname," Astrid snarked, "But, yeah."

"Guess we'll find out soon enough," Fishlegs shrugged again while the four turned to look back at the screen, which had continued quite a bit during their little moment of table-whispering.

**Astrid's almost-scowl turns into a look of blank shock as Tuffnut continued, "We don't want Thorstonton burning down, after all."**

"Wait, you don't?" One of the vikings asked as the others looked on with faces of equally blank shock. The _Twins_.. the two who had dedicated themselves to Loki and all things destructive, last time they checked... were taking measures to _prevent_ destruction? The clearing brush wasn't just to pretty things up, but actually had a functional, constructive purpose?

What was going on?

**The camera switches once again to the Twins, still standing on Barf and Belch's heads. Barf's head goes slightly upwards as Ruffnut smirked, "Or do we?"**

**"Hmm," Tuffnut contemplated this for a moment, squinting before giving his sister a smile that said, 'Fair point'.**

Most of the hall, dragons included, gulped at that while the Riders just rolled their eyes.

**"I'm not clearing brush for you two!" Astrid said, smiling as if to say, 'You're joking, right?' and pointing at the ground to prove her point, "I'm not clearing _anything_ for you two!"**

"Better than clearing dragon dung," Gobber remarked, "Don't ya think?"

"Yeah," Gustav agreed, having had experience in that field for two years straight, "That could've been way worse."

**"Come on, Astrid," Hiccup consoled as he approached the angry Astrid from behind. Astrid's face turns to a look of not-exactly-enthusiastic defeat.**

**"Oh, you'll do it," Tuffnut pointed from atop Belch's head, "And you'll like it, little missy."**

"'Little Missy'?" Heather chuckled a little as Snotlout snickered, "What is he, your mom?"

"Oh, hah, hah, guys." Astrid smirked back while the Hofferson Parents gave an amused look.

**"Snotlout," Tuffnut called, twisting his body around to face him as Toothless walked over, positioning himself behind Hiccup and Astrid to watch the drama, "You, my friend, have an excellent job."**

**The camera switches to Snotlout, who crosses his arms with a doubtful look.**

**"You, sir," Tuffnut announced, "Are our new Sergeant at Arms."**

"'Sergeant at Arms'?" Stoick asked incredulously. That was a bit overkill, wasn't it? He could maybe understand if the overall population on the Edge was as high as Berk's, but it was just the Riders, their dragons, and a few wild dragons here and there. It's not like they were expecting the human population to grow, unless, well, Hiccup and Astrid... you know. But that was unlikely... right? And appointing _Snotlout_? Then again, it _was_ the Twins. Why would they do _anything_ that made some sort of sense?

**"Mm." Snotlout stroked his chin, "I like the sound of that- 'Arms'."**

**"Knew you would!" Tuffnut pointed before looking at his parchment again, "All right, Hiccup."**

Toothless and the other Riders snickered as they all remembered the job that their dear leader had been assigned. Hiccup himself only rolled his eyes with a smirk, "Oh, hardy, har."

Judging from the Riders' reactions, the rest of the Vikings who'd seen them could tell that whatever job it was, it had to be embarrassing. Stoick and Gobber gave each other a look before directing their eyes towards the screen once more.

**"Oh, Hiccup," Tuffnut smiled, "You are our new stable boy!"**

A pause. If this was a skit, you'd probably be able to hear a record-scratch. In fact, some of the Vikings even swore that they could hear a scratching sound of some kind, likely due to the Witch's magic.

Stable boy. _A stable boy. _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the famous "Dragon Conquerer", the slayer of the Red Death and the Pride of Berk, reduced to a _stable boy_.

There was a snort from somewhere in the crowd. Then a few snickers. Then came giggles from all around, quickly evolving into chuckles, and then within seconds, the entire Hall had burst into a cacophony of booming laughter.

Stoick didn't know whether to laugh at the sheer hilarity of the situation, or to be angry that his son had been treated with such disrespect and demand the silence of the Hall, but his decision had been made when he saw that even Hiccup himself couldn't help but join in the chaos, and Stoick's merry roar of laughter thundered over all the rest.

"Oh," Snotlout wiped a fake tear from his eye, "How the mighty have fallen."

Toothless was the only one in the hall who was not amused, being the overprotective reptile that he was, and whacked the Twins with his tail. He'd forgotten about the whole incident, and, well, did not need to remember.

**Tuffnut lowers the scroll to reveal the camera zooming in on Hiccup's shocked face, Astrid snickering into her hand while Hiccup straightens up, at first, angry, but then his face turns into one of utmost incredulity, "STABLE BOY!?"**

**Toothless growled angrily and began to pace around while Astrid laughed into her palm. Astrid then moves to nudge Hiccup in the shoulder, "Come on, Hiccup."**

**Hiccup just looks on in disbelief before sighing heavily.**

Any laughter that might have died down only reemerged as they all took in the sights of Hiccup's face, Toothless' growls and Astrid's cheek.

Hiccup chuckled seeing Toothless' behaviour and rubbed his head soothingly to calm the angry dragon down. Toothless, despite this happening months and months ago, was still not having it. No matter how much time had passed, nothing would change the fact that letting the Twins take charge of the island was a terrible idea. No, _beyond_ terrible, and seeing Hiccup willingly resign himself into playing along was even worse.

Meanwhile, ignoring Toothless' snorts of protest, Hiccup gave Astrid a smirk, "You enjoyed parroting me way too much."

Astrid smirked in return, "Come on, you know I had too." With Hiccup's tendency to repeat others' words in mockery, intentional or not, how could she pass up any opportunity to do the same to him?

**"So, uh," Snotlout approached, "Here's a question: What's a 'Sergeant at Arms' do, anyway?"**

**Tuffnut pointed at him as Ruffnut smirked with her arms crossed in the background, "You enforce the rules. If someone doesn't follow them, you make sure they do. And if things get really nasty.."**

**The camera zooms in on his face, "..You show them to the fancy new dungeon... and give them some yak dung tea. Got it?"**

"Dungeon?" Stoick asked with a hint of surprise.

"Since when did you guys have a dungeon?" Heather asked. Though her time living on the Edge was a bit short, she'd never come across any kind of dungeon area before.

"We didn't," Hiccup replied, the bridge of his nose in his fingers, "But the Twins were pretty creative in that aspect, I'll give them that."

**"Dungeon!" Snotlout pointed finger-guns despite not knowing what guns are, "I like it. Better than '_Stable Boy_'."**

**Hiccup was not amused.**

There was a tiny snort from somewhere in the audience.

**"Okay," Tuffnut tossed the scroll aside, "and speaking of new rules," he took another scroll from a pocket in his vest, "Without further _adieu_,"**

**"Yeah," Ruffnut took the unrolled parchment from his hand, "no more further _adieus_."**

**"Anyway," She opened up the scroll. ****"Rule number one: Everyone must bow to your rulers.."**

**Hiccup shook his head slightly before he and Astrid exchanged glances, "..When they enter the room."**

Gobber snickered, nudging Stoick lightly in the shoulders, "They look like tired parents, don'tcha think?"

Stoick could hardly contain his excited squeal at the mere thought of the two being parents and him having grandchildren, which was quite an amusing sight coming from the mighty Stoick the Vast.

**"Rule number two:" Tuffnut had snatched the scroll back, "Everyone must also bow to your rulers when they exit the room."**

Bow when they exit? Now that was a bit strange. How would they even tell if their so-called 'subjects' were bowing if they'd most likely have their backs turned towards them when exiting a room? They wouldn't be able to see it happening in the first place!

Then again, it _was_ the Twins.

**"Everyone must bow to your rulers," Ruffnut had reclaimed the scroll, "When they are _in_ the room!"**

"How does that even make any sense?" Dagur asked, "Like, would you have to bow repeatedly in their presence, or would you have to bow once and hold your position until they leave?"

"I mean, not even Throkie over here bows that much."

Throk rolled his eyes at that last comment and that _accursed nickname_, earning a chuckle from the former, but nodded in agreement nonetheless. Being the Queen's second-in-command and taking the job very seriously, acting formally even in times of casual relaxation had become a bit of a habit for him. He just simply couldn't help it, though having the Berserkers around _did_.. what was the phrase.. _'loosen things up'_ a little.

In spite of their guilt over the whole ordeal, the Twins were still, well, the Twins, and looked oblivious as to what Dagur's point exactly was. They thought they'd been quite clear back then; Bow when they were in the room.

**"So..." Hiccup approached, "Basically we just bow all the time?"**

**"Ooh, Stable Boy," Tuffnut replied as his sister read the scroll, "Coming in for the big win!"**

**"That deserves a bow. From you. I'm not doing any bowing."**

"Seriously?" Gobber asked.

**Hiccup rolled his eyes and ****begrudgingly**** bowed from the waist, putting one of his hands behind him in a formal manner.**

Silent snickers spread throughout the Hall, though none of them were meant in disrespect. In fact, their respect for the Pride of Berk grew as they saw how Hiccup had bowed so cordially despite his clear distaste for the Twins' ridiculousness. Besides, many of them knew better than to mock an angry Hiccup.

Toothless, however, growled lowly. He really didn't want to see Hiccup resign himself to playing along a second time.

Hiccup himself, however, had taken it in stride and was watching the screen mostly with amusement. He had to admit, it was rather fun watching the past experiences that he and his friends had gone through, and it was even more fun watching the rest of Berk's reactions.

**"Next," Ruffnut read, "There will be a small fee for landing your dragons on the island."**

**Tuffnut continued, "And another small fee for taking off."**

**"There will be a fee for sleeping."**

So far so good, if a bit unorthodox. A fee for landing and departing? The Vikings _could_ understand that if there was to be high air traffic. They could even understand if there was to be a fee for sleeping, since that was how taverns and inns worked. These fees seemed surprisingly reasonable for an area with a higher population, though a bit unnecessary for a place as small as Dragon's Edge.

**"A fee for waking up."**

..And there it was. Why were they not surprised..?

**"A fee for eating."**

**"And a small fee for drinking."**

**"How about breathing?" Astrid drawled, her arms crossed.**

**"Good idea!" Tuffnut pointed at her before whispering to Ruffnut, "Mark that down."**

**"Way ahead of you."**

A round of snorts and "Seriously?"s ran through the Hall. How could the Twins be so smart, and yet so stupid?

**"And finally," Tuffnut addressed his supposed subjects, "the letter 'S' has been officially removed from the alphabet,"**

"Err... what?" Was the general reply of the audience. That was a completely random law, even from the Twins. Didn't the name 'Thorstonton' have an 'S' in it, anyway?

Cheekily, Hiccup called out to Gobber, "Hey, take a swig everytime they break one of their own rules!"

"Oh no, yeh don't! I'm not gonna fall prey to yer schemes," Now, Gobber normally wasn't one to back down from a challenge and mead, but he also didn't want to completely destroy his own handsome body. Besides, he was well over fifty. He wasn't even sure if his body could handle it.

**"..so you're going to want to avoid words like sword.."**

**"..Severed leg," Ruffnut continued.**

**"Severed head,"**

**"Cyclone!"**

**"That's actually a 'C'," Fishlegs corrected.**

Seriously. Even the dumbest Vikings knew that.

**"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!" Tuffnut ordered, "Notlout, quiet him!"**

**"Notlout?" Snotlout asked, genuinely wondering who Tuffnut was referring too before walking off, "Who's Notlout?"**

"Oh, here we go," Spitelout groaned as Snotlout's uncles, Griplout, Scablout, Wartlout, and Burplout, all scratched their heads -or in Griplout's case, seeing as he'd lost both of his arms, got his dragon to scratch his head- as if asking the same question. Another relative?

**The camera pans towards Hiccup and Astrid with Toothless standing behind them Astrid has her arms crossed as she asked, "Do you two realise that there is an 'S' in the name of your island?"**

**"_Ilence_, _ubject_!" Tuffnut pointed towards her, "How dare you _ay_ such thing?"**

By now, the Hall was echoing with the Vikings' laughs and chuckles at Tuffnut's slip-up. Oh, this was going to be hilarious.

"Oops," was all that Tuffnut said as he realised his mistake.

"..And strike one!" Astrid smirked. She'd decided that she was going to keep track of how many times the Twins broke their own laws, just to give a bit of a scale to their absurdities.

Heather snickered, "Don't you mean, '_Trike_ one'?"

**"A-any other rules?" Hiccup asked.**

**To answer that question, Tuffnut pulled out another scroll from his pocket and unrolled it.**

**The Twins' look of triumphancy was quickly cut short as a single Fireworm flew through the parchment, tearing a burning hole into it. The Twins both pressed their faces together as the camera zooms in on them looking through the smoldering hole.**

**Meanwhile, Toothless, Hiccup and Astrid all recoil cautiously as the Fireworm lands, crawling towards them.**

"Oh, yeah!" Dagur realised as well as the other Vikings, "The Fireworm thing!"

"Oh-ho-ho," Heather smirked, "No way."

"Wait a moment," Stoick asked as he turned to look at the Riders disbelievingly, "You mean to tell me that the Fireworm migration was happening at the same time period during which the Twins were left in charge?"

The Riders winced as Hiccup answered, "...Yeah?"

"Wow," Stoick chuckled, "Just, wow."

Though he'd known about the Twins having ended their rule because of the Terror-mail that Hiccup had sent him back then, the young heir had never really specified _why_ or _how_. Now, considering the Fireworm Migration that was taking place at the time, he was getting quite curious as to how exactly the whole situation unfolded. Nonetheless, it was still quite impressive that the situation had been handled at all.

"Well then." Gobber remarked without continuing as the other Vikings either chuckled or gave the Riders sympathetic looks.

**"Table Boy," Tuffnut called as the scroll's fire died down, "clean that up!"**

**"Okay, while I'm doing this," Hiccup warned as he picked up the Fireworm with a stick, "You guys _need_ to stay on top of this Fireworm thing."**

**The stick immediately catches on fire as Hiccup lobbed the Fireworm towards Toothless, who bats it away with his tail.**

**"It's starting to get pretty real," Hiccup said as the flaming stick died down, the camera panning to reveal large pillars of smoke coming from a distant forest fire.**

"Yeah," Snotlout commented dryly, "No kidding."

A sense of curiosity filled the air. True, there was a bit of unease and worry, but the Vikings all knew that these events had long since unfolded and they had been through worse. Well, most of them, anyway. There were quite a few forgetful folks within the crowd. How exactly did the Riders manage to tackle the Fireworm migration with the Twins in charge?

**The camera cuts towards Toothless carrying a pail in his mouth and approaching Hiccup, who is seen giving Barf a neck scrub. The Zippleback lies on the floor, completely relaxed.**

**"Uh," Tuffnut asked as he and his sister approached, "Aren't you forgetting something?"**

**"What?" Hiccup asked as he scrubbed Barf's neck, before getting up and rolling his eyes with a bow, "Oh, right. Sorry."**

**"That's better." Ruffnut pointed with a smirk.**

**"Now, let's have a look at your work, _Table_ Boy," Tuffnut said as he walked around, Hiccup giving him a deathly stare.**

Toothless grumbled. True, the Twins had since grown emotionally quite a bit, but at the time? His silly human had put far too much faith in the Twins. Though he couldn't fault him, the dragon supposed. After all, it was his sworn brother's immense trust and faith in him that had made them friends in the first place. Well, that and stubbornness, that is.

**Toothless put down his bucket and snarled lowly.**

"Geez, bud." Hiccup asked, "Why are you still so mad about this?"

_"Because you're supposed to be treated with respect!"_ Toothless had wanted to shout, but alas, he couldn't speak Norse. His human had been through and was _going through_ enough in his life, especially in the emotional aspects of his childhood, and he most certainly didn't need more of that added to the pile! Honestly, couldn't this boy just see his own worth?

**"Hmm," Tuffnut commented as he examined the Zippleback's right wing, "Good! That's nice attention to detail."**

**"Uh," Ruffnut pointed out, "We have a problem."**

**"What?" Hiccup asked with an incredulous sigh, "What's the problem?"**

**Tuffnut dipped a single finger into the water bucket and lifted it out with disgust, "Pathetic."**

**"Disgraceful." Ruffnut agreed.**

**"Unacceptable!" Tuffnut shook his head.**

The Vikings exchanged looks and only shrugged. The water looked clean enough, by viking standards. Was there a bug in there, or something?

**"_What is it?_!" Hiccup asked, gesturing his arms wide in incredulousness.**

**"This water is lukewarm!" Tuffnut shouted, stomping his feet as he pointed at the pail, "We _pecifically_ asked for scalding-" He kicked the bucket and corrected himself, "Sorry, _calding_, if I'm not _miskaken_."**

A few of the Vikings just held their heads in their hands with giggles and chuckles, while the others groaned. Oh, the Twins.

"Yeah," Gobber drawled, "I'm not gonna take on that challenge of yours, Hiccup, unless I wanna end up burnin' on a boat!"

Hiccup only chuckled in response. Yeah, he figured as much.

**Tuffnut crossed his arms as his twin continued, "Oh, you are not _mitaken_, brother."**

**"Fine," Hiccup replied, "scalding-" he winced, "_calding_ it is."**

**"Toothless," He called, pointing at the pail, probably regretting his life decisions, "_Tooth-le...Plama blat_!"**

**Toothless shot at the bucket, engulfing the Twins with smoke from the blast. ****The Twins coughed and yelled, but the water in the bucket was, indeed, boiling. They were not amused. ****The dragon growled happily at his work of having successfully smoked the Twins, but the feeling wasn't mutual.**

**"I'm keeping an eye on you," Tuffnut said as he approached, "Mr. Night Fury."**

**The camera zooms in as Tuffnut pointed to his left eye for emphasis, "My good eye."**

"Wait, you have a bad eye?" Fishlegs asked curiously.

"Yeah," Tuffnut responded as his sister continued, "He's short-sighted in his right eye, and it got worse when we were kids."

"Well, why don't you go see Gothi?" Fishlegs suggested, "Or just.. wear eyeglasses?"

"Puh-lease!" drawled Tuffnut, looking positively affronted at the very idea, "Eyeglasses are way too much of a hassle to get, and besides, they wouldn't fit with.." he gestured at himself, "..All this."

"You just gestured to all of yourself," Hiccup deadpanned, "Besides, it would only take a few days. Remember when we flew way out South and got Snotlout that monocle?"

"You mean the monocle that Snotlout always keeps in his pocket in case he needs to be dramatic?" Astrid said with a smirk before turning to face the Twins, "But, yeah, Tuff. Eyeglasses wouldn't be that hard to get."

"Eh," Tuffnut shrugged before smiling, "Nah, I think it's cool!"

"What, not being able to clearly see what's in front of you?" Snotlout snarked. He knew the Twins couldn't be _that_ stupid, could they? What was that about parasites and symbio-something? Besides, the little monocle _did_ come in handy when he wrote his book about how great he was and wanted to see his words more clearly.

"Yeah!" Ruffnut replied for her brother, who nodded way too enthusiastically as she spoke, "It gets him into more danger, it's fun!"

Fishlegs looked over to Gothi, but the elder simply just shrugged. The Twins always got into so much danger, and she'd practically given up on healing all of their minor wounds. Their numerous injuries _did_ allow their bodies to heal faster and stronger, after all.

**"Wait," Hiccup asked as Tuffnut walked off, sounding genuinely concerned, "Are you telling me you have a bad eye?"**

**"Wait," Ruffnut mocked, "Are you telling me you have a bad leg?"**

**"Thought so," she said before giving Hiccup a chance to respond.**

"Well," Astrid remarked, suppressing a chuckle, "I guess you could say that you three..."

"Astrid," Hiccup warned, fighting back a chuckle himself, "Don't-"

"...Got off on the wrong _foot_?"

"_Ohhh_," Hiccup snarked dryly as he heard the others giggle, "Real funny, a-always with the leg jokes!"

To be completely honest, though, despite whatever words came out of his mouth, Hiccup did mind those quite a tiny bit. He knew the Gang's many jests about his leg were all in good fun, especially when it came from Astrid, and he'd even cracked a few jokes about it himself. It just got oh, _so_ annoying. He didn't particularly enjoy, no- he _hated_ having petty -or what he considered petty, at least- thoughts, but _they_ weren't the ones dealing with phantom pain nearly every other week and having to maintain his prosthetic so he wouldn't get cut by it or infected.

He had sometimes wondered how Gobber managed to remain _relativity_ sane after nearly a decade of the arm and leg jokes that Hiccup himself had made over the years of being his apprentice. Then again, maybe Gobber wasn't exactly the best example for sanity.

**"...And the weirdness continues," Hiccup commented as he and Toothless watched the Twins walk inside.**

**The scene fades to show Astrid and Stormfly landing on a platform with a shriek. Conveniently, or rather, inconveniently, Ruffnut is there to witness.**

**"That's a two-mackerel landing charge, little lady."**

**Astrid sighs, rightfully irritated, before she hops her dragon in another direction.**

**"Two more mackerel." Ruffnut stated, holding up her fingers to count before giving her brother a nudge, "Are you keeping track or should I?"**

The Vikings chuckled, albeit it was a little scattered. A few of the Vikings actually felt their irritation grow along with the onscreen Astrid's.

Gobber coughed into his prosthetic arm, before nudging Stoick in the shoulder warily, "Looks like you've got some new ideas for re-earning Berk's gold."

Stoick laughed, and pretended to consider it, much to the horror of the rest of the tribe who actually thought he was being serious. Stoick himself didn't really find the idea too entertaining, though. It just didn't seem very honourable to charge a landing fee. No, Berk's gold would be re-earned slowly, steadily, and graciously.

**"No," Tuffnut said in response, "I got it."**

**"Look," Astrid started, "I don't have any more mackerel, and if I did, I wouldn't give it to you for you dumb take-off and landing charge."**

**"_Excue_ me," Tuffnut stumbled forward, "Are you calling the laws of this land dumb?"**

"Yes, exactly," Astrid whisper-grumbled to herself, much to Hiccup's amusement.

**"You don't like 'dumb'?" Astrid mocked, "How about.." She twirled her hand in thought, "dopey?"**

**"Brainless, Dimwitted, _Moronic_," She gestured with her hands for emphasis, "Shall I go on?"**

"Huh, wow," Dagur commented to the agreement of the other Vikings, "You really have heard a lot of words for 'stupid'."

**Tuffnut wasn't very amused.**

**"Notlout!" He demanded.**

**"Coming in hot!" Snotlout shouted as he and Hookfang flew over, "Ergeant at arm Notlout reporting!"**

Spitelout groaned loudly. While he was proud that his son had been given a higher rank in the system, the boy was far too eager to serve under such incompetent rulers. Dare he think it, they were more moronic than Stoick.

Snotlout himself pretended not to notice his father's groan and pointed at himself onscreen, acting with his usual arrogant gusto, "Look at me up there! All Ergeant- I mean, Sergeant-at-Arm-sy. I look awesome, right?"

He was met with annoyed silence, before he switched gears to try his hand at another attempt at flirting with Ruffnut, "I'm awesome, _right_?"

Ruffnut groaned in reply and sat further away, before being annoyingly met with flowers from Fishlegs and then climbing onto Barf's neck to sulk there.

**Tuffnut turned around while Astrid steamed, "Take this mutineer to the new dungeon, and her little dragon, too."**

**The camera zooms in on a furiously incredulous Astrid while Tuffnut continued, "Give her some time to think about her attitude."**

"Wait," Fishlegs held a hand up in question, "How come Snotlout didn't have to pay the fee?"

"Oh, yeah." Tuffnut realised as a smirk crept up his face, "Snotlout, you owe us four mackerel."

"_Fishface_!" Snotlout hissed. Fishlegs turned around and whistled, pretending not to have heard him. Oh, that was diabolical. He was _so_ going to take notes and use it later.

"Ah-hah," Snotlout snarked at the Twins, "Yeah, no. You're not the rulers anymore, and we're not living there anymore, anyway!"

**"Dungeon?" Astrid raised her voice and an eyebrow, "Are you serious?"**

**"Do we look serious?" Tuffnut asked as he turned around, his sister with her hands on her hips in agreement.**

_"No,"_ The Vikings silently thought as they watched, either chuckling or face-palming.

**"Ughh!" Astrid groaned.**

**"You know," Tuffnut pondered as Astrid and Stormfly hobbled off, "That's a good question. Do we?"**

**"I don't know," Ruffnut said, "Here, give me your best serious face."**

**Tuffnut complied as the camera switches to a close-up of him.**

**"Woah," Ruffnut commented, "Pretty serious. Okay, what about me?"**

**Ruffnut pulls of a face that looks more ridiculous than serious as Tuffnut replied, "Oh, yeah."**

**"Okay," Ruffnut stared blankly, "Yeah, we look pretty serious."**

The Vikings raised their eyebrows and turned towards the Twins, who only shrugged in response.

**The scene fades to show the Twins feasting with Chicken by their side as Fishlegs is heard reading a poem off-screen.**

**"_There was once an island named Thorstonton_," Fishlegs read as the camera switched to reveal him.**

**"_Where everybody wanted to have fun, fun, fun,_" He looked more and more uncertain as he went on, "****_We sang and we danced, and we all peed our pants when the ruler came up with a great pun.. pun, pun._"**

"Oh, _s'il te plaît_," Tuffnut sighed as Fishlegs let out an embarrassed huff. The nostalgia of looking back did not improve the poem at all. In fact, it seemed to have aged it even worse. The Vikings failed at masking their cringe out of respect for the Rider, which only served to dampen Fishlegs' mood.

"Fish," Snotlout put a hand on his friend's shoulder in faux solemness, "You suck at writing poems."

**The Twins only looked bored and annoyed.**

**Chicken squawked as Tuffnut leaned towards her, "The chicken is not amused."**

**"Notlout!" He called as the Ergeant at Arm came flying in, "_Ir, ye, ir_, right here!"**

Amidst the noise of Spitelout's groan, Snotlout's mother found herself amused at her little viking's enthusiasm and gave a quiet laugh. It had been a good while since she'd since her son so happy and carefree.

**Tuffnut pointed, "To the dungeon with him!"**

**"No, no!" Fishlegs shrieked as the Monstrous Nightmare dragged him away by the collar, "The Chicken is wrong, the Chicken is wrong!"**

**"How dare you?" Tuffnut demanded, "The Chicken is never wrong!"**

**Chicken squawked as Tuffnut lowered his voice to console her, "Shh, I'm sorry you had to hear that." He rubbed her feathers, "That's it, quiet. There we go."**

**The scene fades to show to camera panning upwards from the Edge to the sky, revealing a cloud of Fireworms steadily approaching. The Night Terrors are shown squealing and flying away as they prepared to enact a plan of their own while the Fireworms flew over.**

The Vikings' laughter faded as they grew increasingly worried. The Riders had not prepared for it at all, so just how did the Island manage to survive?

**The scene quickly cuts to the stables as Snotlout's voice is heard echoing from inside, "All right, giddy up!"**

"They used the stables as a dungeon?" Stoick asked incredulously. Though it was clever, seeing how the stables could be locked and did, admittedly, look like cages, they weren't exactly secure, and if it was to stick, it _would_ mean the dragons would have to sleep elsewhere.

"I think we've used the stables as cages more than once, actually," Hiccup pointed out. Hey, the idea was clever for a temporary holding area, and he had to to give credit where credit was due.

**Snotlout is shown pushing Fishlegs and Astrid into one of the stables as Hiccup watches in silence, "Get back in line!"**

**"Snotlout," Hiccup asks, holding a broom, "What are you doing?"**

**"Never you mind, _Table Boy_!" Snotlout yelled as he unlocked a 'cage', he himself looking unsure, "This is official Thortonton..ston.. business."**

**He quickly opened the door to one of the stables and directed the 'criminals' inside, "Welcome to your new home, jailbirds."**

**Snotlout laughed as they went inside. Fishlegs looked his usual worried self while Astrid looked thoroughly peeved while the door was locked shut and Snotlout and Hookfang flew off.**

**"What are _you_ in for?" Hiccup smirked, leaning back to see the prisoners.**

**"Funny," Astrid drawled dryly, "Exactly how long are you going to let this go on? Have you _seen_ all those Fireworms?"**

**"Yeah, Hiccup," Fishlegs pointed out, "The migration is picking up steam!"**

**In a hilarious twist of convenient timing, Meatlug lets out a fart.**

The children and Tuffnut laughed at the coincidental timing and, well, the fart joke, while the older Vikings all groaned.

"Haha," Tuffnut smirked, sounding somewhat delirious, possibly from drinking mead, "He said steam, and she uh- eh, you know."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her twin's lame attempt at comedy as Astrid took the words right out of her mouth, "We get it, Tuff."

**"Ho, ho, ho!" Fishlegs waved his hand as he tried to ward off the smell, "She does not deal well with prison food."**

"But.." Heather paused, "She didn't even eat anything yet."

"Yeah," Fishlegs admitted, "But the idea made Meatlug nervous."

**Astrid retched, walking offscreen as Hiccup held out his hand in consolement before walking off as well, "Alright, alright. I-I-I'll talk to them."**

The Vikings sighed in relief. Oh, _finally_.

**"I'm.." He stuttered as the camera switches to reveal Toothless standing off to the side as well, "I'm sure I can get this all straightened out."**

"Yeah," Hiccup crossed his arms, "T-t-that didn't happen."

**Hiccup walked away as the Night Fury hopped alongside him. The scene then changes to night, as another Night Terror flew off while the Twins and their Zippleback flew overhead the burning forest.**

**"So," Hiccup asked as he and Toothless came flying nearby, "You guys surveying the damage?"**

**"No," Tuffnut responded, "We're looking for a place to build our summer palace."**

The entire Hall sighed in exasperation, of course they weren't surveying the damage. It seemed their earlier panic about the Twins was completely unjustified... or _was_ it?

**Ruffnut pointed towards a particularly flaming part of the forest, "That might be a nice area once the fires burn the vegetation away!"**

**"Any thoughts, Table Boy?" Tuffnut asked as the camera switches to Hiccup, who is revealed to be carrying his Gronckle-Iron shield, squinting to look before replying, "Yeah, j-just one. Have you considered the fact that if you throw everyone in jail, there's no one left to actually build your summer palace?"**

**The Twins looked at each other in consideration, as if they'd just realised this, "We're listening."**

**"And... what about the Fireworm Migration?" Hiccup asked, blocking off two approaching Fireworms with his shield.**

"Hm," Fishlegs leaned forward as he observed the small stripes and patches of grey on Toothless' scales.

"Wha-what is it?" Hiccup asked.

Fishlegs pointed at the Toothless onscreen, "Hiccup, take a look at the patches and stripes on Toothless' scales."

"Huh," Hiccup tilted his head to the side, a habit he picked up from spending so much time with the Night Fury in question, "They're more.. bright, I guess?"

He'd definitely seen those markings before. How could he have not after spending so much time with Toothless? Though they always looked more gradient and blended in more. Curiously, he took a look at the real Toothless, who happily obliged and lifted his wings to allow the human to see them better.

"They look a lot more faded, now." Hiccup observed, and it was true. There were far less markings and those that remained took quite of bit of squinting to see, "Maybe they're like deer spots, going away as he gets older?"

And for another moment out of many, Hiccup wondered just how old his best friend was. Was this a sign of maturity, or old age? Toothless was still pretty spry, more so than ever, in fact, so it couldn't be age. Was he sick? Well, that would be one heck of a long time to be sick, then.

"Woah," breathed Fishlegs, snapping Hiccup out of his thoughts. The larger boy stood alongside him to see the faint stripes for himself, "Maybe we should add this to the Dragon Manual?"

"_Urghh_," Snotlout uninterestedly groaned, attracting the ire of the three and any observers, "Nerd out about this later! I wanna watch the thing!"

**"Don't you think it might be a good idea to have everyone working so that we can stop.." He paused, "Thorstonton from burning down?"**

**"I see your point," Tuffnut noted, he and his sister looking unusually solemn, "But.. I also see something else."**

**"Oh, yeah!" Ruffnut agreed.**

**"What?" Hiccup asked, "What's that?"**

**"Toothless is flying as fast as Barf and Belch!" Ruffnut pointed out as Tuffnut continued, "And by Thorstonton law,"**

**"That," Ruffnut continued, "is illegal!"**

**And so, our dear Hiccup found himself locked in the stables with the others.**

**"So," Astrid smirked cheekily, "What you in for?"**

**"Astrid, _please_."**

**"What?" Astrid asked with a hint of laughter in her voice, "Just trying to be funny."**

The Vikings laughed at the two's interactions as Hiccup and Astrid smirked at each other. Meanwhile, Gobber faked an annoyed groan, "You two were_ made_ for each other, I swear."

Viking youngsters and their sarcasm, it was practically spreading like a plague! He let out a small sigh with a sad smile. Oh, how Hiccup had grown. The sarcasm wasn't something all that unique to the banter that he and his little apprentice used to share alone in the Forge anymore. The little apprentice was no longer so little, nor was he his apprentice anymore, either. Gobber, very much like Stoick, was just so proud of Hiccup and how he'd grown that it _hurt_.

**Meanwhile, Snotlout is seen grunting and pulling himself in as Hookfang followed sadly.**

**"Snotlout?" Hiccup asked in concern as his cousin threw himself onto the ground.**

**"Hey!" Astrid grunted as Hookfang squeezed in, knocking her and Stormfly to the side. Snotlout closes the door to the surprisingly big stable and looked forlorn, "I was framed."**

Spitelout sighed and put a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose as the rest of the Hall gave scattered snickers. What a drama king.

**"Alright, that's it," Astrid pushed Hookfang's wing to the side, "We're breaking out of here!"**

**"Great!" Snotlout switched gears completely, "Then we go back to my plan." He slid his fist across his neck and hissed.**

**"Guys, guys," Hiccup stepped between them, "We're _fine_. There's nothing to worry about!"**

**Snotlout didn't look too convinced.**

**"I mean," Hiccup continued, "The Twins can't be _that_ oblivious!"**

The Vikings gave Hiccup a blank stare. Meanwhile, the Twins were feeling pretty surprised. Did Hiccup really have that much faith in them even way back then? The feeling of guilt grew further over what had transpired inside them. Yes, they _were_ that oblivious. They let the Edge nearly burn to the ground and didn't do anything about it until the rest of the Gang stepped in.

The rest of the gang, meanwhile, grew more and more concerned about the Twins' silent expressions. The Twins knew that the other Riders didn't _hate_ them for their mistakes, especially when this was all so long ago, right?

Apparently, that wasn't what the Twins thought.

**The Twins are then seen spending their time kicking a sheep around like a ball, the stuffed Yak looking horrified as usual while the Twins drop the sheep and laugh.**

The Vikings groaned and facepalmed, although a few exasperated snorts and chuckles were heard scattered around.

**Tuffnut gives chase as the sheep runs away, bleating, before he stops and spots something in the sky.**

**"What?" Tuffnut paused the chase, spotting a Fireworm heading his way.**

**"Woah, check it out!" Tuffnut points at the approaching dragon as Ruffnut appears from behind.**

**The Fireworm lands and the Twins smile in mischievous awe, "Fireworm!"**

"Uh oh," Dagur whispered to nobody in particular. The rest of the Hall echoed with similar thoughts.

**"Burns with the heat of a thousand suns!" Ruffnut continued.**

**"Ah, those little guys," Tuffnut cooed as he stomped on the flames trailing behind the dragon.**

**"Oh look," Ruffnut gestured as another Fireworm landed on the platform, spinning around to look as it moved behind, "It has a little buddy!"**

**Another of those 'little buddies' came crashing down, practically lighting the wooden platform on fire.**

**"Ow!" Tuffnut grouched in pain as a Fireworm knocked off his helmet, putting a hand on his head.**

The Vikings winced. Ooh, that had to hurt. Even with the Twins' penchant for pain, the Vikings knew they had some sort of limit, and so that hit almost certainly must've felt unpleasant. Having a hard, metal helmet quickly scrape and knock over and off your head -possibly leaving cuts and infected scars- wasn't exactly the _best_ feeling on Earth.

**"Woah!" Ruffnut gasped as a Fireworm lit up a pot full of charcoal way too close to her for her liking. Amidst the chaos, the sheep that they'd been tossing around had its wool lit on fire. Barf and Belch turned their heads towards each other and seemed to be panicking, as more and more Fireworms invaded the Edge.**

**"No!" Tuffnut screamed as he stomped on the ground, attempting to snuff out the flames, "Stop, stop!"  
**

**"As the ruler of Thorstonton," Tuffnut began as he turned around, his back facing the Fireworms burning everything down, "I'm ordering the ruler's sister-" He pointed at Ruffnut as the latter crossed her arms, "-to do something about this Fireworm problem!"**

"Yeah, uh, a _little_ too late for that, don't'cha think?"

The Twins and the other Riders gave Snotlout a glare, effectively shutting him up. Of course they knew they were too late! Maybe not back then, but they most certainly knew _now_.

**"What do you want _me_ to do?" Ruffnut asked incredulously, "I'm not the boss of them."**

**"Well," Tuffnut replied, pacing back and forth, "If we don't do something, they're going to burn Thorstonton to the ground!"**

**Ruffnut stomped her foot moodily, as she realised, "Just like Hiccup said!"**

"What did you think was going to happen?" Hiccup asked breathlessly while the Twins only shrugged in response. Oh, the _Twins_. It was like they were incredibly smart and yet incredibly dumb at the same time.

**As if fate itself was dealing some sort of critical blow, the Thorstonton sign caught on fire.**

**"This is all your fault!" The Twins accused of each other.**

"Uh, didn't you say that you wanted the Edge burnin' to the ground?" Dogsbreath asked from somewhere within the crowd. The tall boy was about two years older than the Dragon Riders, and so never spent enough time with them to be their friend apart from Snotlout, who wasn't even his friend anymore, anyway. Needless to say, the young brute was in an even worse mood that usual, and seemed to be practically itching for a fight.

He seemed oblivious to the glares from practically the entire Village as he continued, "You got what you asked for! And who cares if ya stupid sign's burnin' down, anyway?"

"We didn't mean it literally!" Ruffnut growled, standing up from her seat as Tuffnut held on to Chicken, Barf, and Belch for comfort, "The Edge was our home, we didn't want it completely destroyed! Why else do you think we haven't even tried completely burning the entirety of Berk to the ground?"

Individual houses, barrels, farms, and broken walls could all easily be rebuilt and repaired. Berk was a big island, and the trees were almost as tough as the Berkians themselves! There would always be plenty of wood to use. Just because they liked destruction didn't mean they wanted _everything_ destroyed! They just wanted to have fun, and what good was having fun if there was nobody else around to share it with?

The Vikings obviously couldn't read the Twins' thoughts, but they did get the general message from Ruffnut's outburst. The Riders and their dragons gave defensive glares, as if daring anyone to speak otherwise. No matter how annoying, weird, insensitive and stupid they were, and no matter how many times the Riders themselves jokingly insulted them, the Twins were still two of their best friends. The group just wouldn't be complete without them. Now if only the silent tension that followed wasn't so awkward..

**The scene then cut to reveal more of the Edge on fire, cutting away again to a shot on Astrid in the stables. **

**"That smoke is getting close, and where there's smoke-"**

**"-There's Fireworms," Fishlegs sighed as Meatlug and Stormfly shook rapidly, eager to get out.**

**"Alright, you know what?" Hiccup called, as the camera panned towards him, "Experiment over!"**

The vikings and dragons of the Hall sighed quietly in relief, still not daring to speak a word under the watchful glares of the Riders. That could only mean that the Edge would no longer be in the possession of the Thorstons, and those words were reassurance enough.

**"We are getting out there and stopping them before there's nothing left of this island."**

**"Finally!" Astrid sighed. If the bags under her eyes were any indication, she had been waiting for this moment the whole day.**

**"Toothless," Hiccup called as the Night Fury shifted his stance, "Plasma blast!"**

**Just as Toothless readied his blast with a growl, the Twins arrived just in time.**

**"Hey, guys?" Tuffnut asked as Toothless swallowed back his blast. His nostrils smoked as he panted for air.**

The dragons gave their unofficial Alpha a look of sympathy. Swallowing back a blast was never a good feeling, especially after a long night of antics.

**"Now's our chance!" Snotlout said as he called his dragon to attention, "Hookfang, destroy!"**

**"Oh, hey, rulers!" Hiccup smiled, blocking Hookfang's way as the Nightmare snarled from behind. Once he was sure the Twins weren't about to be turned into a roasted buffet, he fell back on his good old sarcasm.**

**"How's stuff in the old kingdom?"**

**Astrid crossed her arms and added to the snark, "Having lots of fun with all the smoke and fire?"**

**"Yes," Tuffnut responded, almost instinctively before correcting himself, "No. Okay, fine."**

**"As it turns out," Tuffnut admitted, genuinely sorry, "We can't save Thorstonton by ourselves."**

**He continued as Hiccup as Astrid gave each other small and sly smiles, "So we talked about it, and we hereby decree that you can all come and help us put out the fires."**

**"Ah," Hiccup sighed, the sarcastic smile still on his features, "That's a shame, 'cause, from where I sit, you guys are on your own. I mean," he pretended to check his fingers, "Rules are rules, right?"**

The Vikings snickered at Hiccup's cheek. Trust Hiccup to still be so sarcastic while the entire Edge was in the middle of burning down, it did well to ease the tension. Stoick only smirked, realising just what Hiccup was getting at. As if Hiccup was ever one to follow the rules, he befriended a Night Fury while living in a dragon-killing society!

**Hiccup turned his head towards Toothless, who crooned in agreement.**

**"You have to help us save our island!" Ruffnut pleaded, "It's all we've got!"**

**"I don't know," Hiccup teased, "Guys?"**

**"I think you've got to stick to your guns," Astrid pointed out, "You make a rule, you follow it through! Otherwise, it's.. you know,"**

**"-Anarchy." Fishlegs added, "I'm with them!"**

**"Come on," Tuffnut begged, "You guys? Please! Is there anything we can do?"**

**"Name it, we'll do anything!"**

**"Well," Hiccup replied, "Now that you mention it, I suppose we could consider one possibility."**

Stoick and Gobber chuckled as the vikings began to realise his plan. Same old sly and smart Hiccup.

**The Twins stopped, turning their gazes to an enormous mass of Fireworms heading closer and closer.**

**"Anything!" They both yelled, now desperate as the Fireworms began to enter the stables.**

**"I'll make you assistant ruler," Tuffnut offered, as Hiccup kept silent.**

**"Ruler's best pal? Second string ruler?"**

**"No, I have a better idea actually," Hiccup cut him off, gesturing to everyone else in the one stable, "We divide the island up amongst all of us. We all own it, there's no ruler. No Sister Of The Ruler."**

**Ruffnut gasped as if it was blasphemy as Hiccup continued, "We're all rulers."**

**"What?" Tuffnut jumped back, echoing his sister's thoughts, "That's blasphemous! You can't do that to the ruler."**

**Tuffnut crossed his arms as another Fireworm zoomed in, igniting a flame on his hair. As he sniffed the smoke and saw the ashes of his own hair, he screamed and ran off, "Okay! You guys can have whatever you want!"**

**"The island's all of ours," Tuffnut could be seen scooting across the floor, trying to put out his glorious dreadlocks, "J-just get these things out of here!"**

**Tuffnut continued screeching in pain as Hiccup smiled, satisfied with his answer.**

"Dictator," Tuffnut mumbled under his breath while the rest of the Gang snickered at his misfortune.

The Thorstons sighed in disappointment while the rest of the Great Hall sighed in relief. So it was official, then. The Edge belonged exclusively to all the Dragon Riders. Their relief then turned to excitement and curiosity as they awaited to see how the Riders managed to tackle the Fireworm migration.

**The scene fades to the Riders flying towards the cloud of Fireworms; they were back in business.**

**"Okay, Fishlegs," Hiccup called, "Gather up all the Night Terrors and take them to the cave."**

**"On it!" Fishlegs saluted and flew off.**

**"Okay, guys," Hiccup addressed the rest, "We need to redirect the Fireworms around our island and on to the next one in the chain."**

**Astrid seemed doubtful, "You really think it's gonna make a dent? I mean, look at them all."**

Astrid had a point. The Vikings still couldn't fathom how the Riders fended off the migration.

**"Do you have a better idea? We don't really have a choice!"**

**As the group ascended further towards the Fireworms, Astrid shouted, "Stormfly, fire!"**

**The Nadder did as she was told, willing to defend her home, but the blast barely made a dent in the Fireworms' formation.**

**"Come on, Barf, Belch," Tuffnut encouraged, "Do it for Thorstonton!"**

**The Zippleback let out their gas and sparked, but the explosion did little as the Fireworms flew out of the way and regrouped.**

**"Fall back!" Hiccup called, "Maybe we can at least protect our base."**

**The Gang retreated, following his lead, "Let's get started on building a fire break!"**

The Vikings exchanged worried glances. Though that was technically the best option, it didn't sound like it was enough to ward off the Fireworms. Did the Riders manage to clone the Edge, or something?

**As the scene cut to daylight, Barf and Belch are seen digging a line of dirt.**

**"Just keep digging, guys," Hiccup called from atop of Toothless, "The fire can't get past it if there's only dirt."**

**Snotlout, Hookfang, Astrid and Stormfly are then shown using their dragons' blasts in a controlled manner in order to dig lines through the grass quickly. Toothless fires a few blasts of his own in order to put out the resulting flames, sending**** ashes and embers flying through the air.**

**"Oh, I can barely see, bud," Hiccup coughs, "If this gets much worse, we're gonna have to bail out."**

**The gang regrouped, landing their dragons on the ground.**

**"What do we do now?!" Astrid asked, "It's getting really dangerous!"  
**

**"The caves!" Hiccup lands with a cough, "We'll go there and wait it out with the Night Terrors."**

**"Uh, Hiccup," Fishlegs called, "You may want to come up with another plan."**

**"Why?"**

**"I couldn't find the Night Terrors." Fishlegs explained, "I called them until my lips almost fell off, they're gone!"**

The dragons looked alarmed, which didn't exactly do well to ease the Vikings' worries. If the Night Terrors had fled the Edge, then it might truly have been a lost cause.

**"I told you we should've bailed on this place!" Snotlout grumbled from atop of Hookfang.**

**"No," Tuffnut stood up, on Belch's neck, "We're not bailing. This island is ours!"**

**"Tuff?" Hiccup and Toothless narrowed their eyes.**

**"It's all of ours," Tuffnut consoled, "And no one burns our equally-shared island to the ground but us."**

**"Well, I.. I may have to disagree with you there," Hiccup said as the flames grew more intense. The camera swivelled around to reveal the silhouette of the Fireworm Queen, flying out of the sunset.**

The dragons exchanged confused looks, which the Vikings misinterpreted as worry. Why would the Fireworm Queen leave the nest? Though very few of them had known the Fireworm Queen personally, they knew it wasn't like her to just _leave_. Even during a migration, the Queen would wait for more than a few weeks to find a suitable route. That just couldn't be her.

**"What the-" Astrid squinted, "Is that-"**

**"Fireworm Queen!" Fishlegs confirmed, "If she's here, then the entire flock can't be far behind it."**

**"Well that settles it." Hiccup said, "Grab what you can. We're out of here."**

**"Uh, Hiccup," Snotlout observed, "That's not the Fireworm Queen."**

**The camera zooms in towards the supposed 'Fireworm Queen,' and low and behold..**

**"The Night Terrors!" Hiccup smiled, "They're protecting the island by forming a Fireworm Queen."**

The Vikings cheered and the Dragons sighed in understanding. Of _course_ it wasn't the real Fireworm Queen. A few of the Night Terrors were present in the Hall, actually, having migrated to Berk after the Riders left the Edge. Many of the dragons nodded their heads in respect for the small dragons, who screeched courtly in return.

**Astrid wasn't far behind, "There's not gonna be anything left to protect if all of those Fireworms land here!"  
**

**"Well, we just won't let them," Hiccup said.**

**"Okay," Astrid picked up on his tone, "I sense a plan."**

**"I'm gonna lead the Night Terrors out to sea," Hiccup turned towards the massive flock, "Hopefully the Fireworms will follow. You guys stay behind and put out these fires!"**

Stoick felt something squirm inside of him. Of _course_ his son was about to put himself in danger, _again_.

**Hiccup and Toothless took off towards and then through the flock, "Come on, bud!"**

**"Alright, bud," Hiccup spoke as he and Toothless flew to the Night Terrors' level, "We need to get the Terrors' attention and turn them out the sea."**

**Toothless growled in determination as they flew forwards, meeting the Night Terrors.**

**"Alright, gang, let's take a little trip, shall we?"**

**Hiccup began trying to coral the flock of Night Terrors, before stopping and facing the sea.**

**"Toothless, now!"**

**Toothless fired a single, bright blast, gaining the Night Terrors' attention. Smidvarg called the Night Terror flock and soon enough, the fake Fireworm Queen was on their trail.**

**"Yes!" Hiccup looked behind, "Nice job, bud."**

**The Fireworms caught notice of their 'Queen' flying out to sea, and soon followed suit.**

**"It's working!" Astrid smiled as Stormfly shifted her feet.**

**"There we go, bud," Hiccup directed as he spotted another island, "That island's all rock. Perfect stopover for these guys!"**

**He then tilted his head towards the flock, "Going down, gang!"**

**As he and Toothless swivelled and maneuvered through the rocks, Hiccup snuck a glance back at the following flock. The Fireworms successfully land on the barren island while the Night Terrors dispersed. ****Now it was Toothless' turn to look back at the island of Fireworms, giving his familiar gummy smile.**

The Vikings cheered and clapped their hands, leaving Hiccup to blush at all the praise. He didn't think he'd ever get used to an entire crowd of Vikings cheering for him, even after so many times of it happening.

**"Now that," Hiccup commented, "Is something to write about. And Fishlegs thought the Book of Dragons was finished."**

"Oh, hah, hah, Hiccup," Fishlegs had his hand on his hips and Hiccup smirked in return.

**Hiccup and Toothless dived towards the horizon as the scene faded, revealing the Gang gathered around the claim stone.**

**"Ruff, Tuff," Hiccup approached as the aforementioned Twins stood in front of the stone, "You guys did the right thing."**

**He put his hands on their shoulders as the Twins looked forlorn, Tuffnut's helmet in his hands.**

**"I just hope you learned something in all this."**

**"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed, "We sure did. Leading _blow_. Oh, we don't have to do the 'S' thing anymore."**

The Vikings snickered.

**He put his helmet on his head, "Leading blows!"**

**"Seriously blows," Ruffnut muttered.**

Hiccup found himself nodding subconsciously in agreement. Leading the Riders was tiring, despite it apparently being his 'element'. He didn't even want to think about what it would have to be be like when he became Chief. No, he'd delay that for as long as possible.

**"You know what, though?" Tuffnut sauntered towards the rock, "At least we have our cool claim stone.." He put his hands on his hip, "to remember our glorious reign!"**

**...And the Claim Stone was gobbled up by Meatlug.**

**Tuffnut crossed his arms, "No respect."**

**The Gronckle licked her lips in satisfaction before barfing out its contents at Ruffnut's feet, "No respect at all."**

**Snotlout laughed as he and Hiccup danced, "_It's everyone's island!_"**

Snotlout shrieked and hid behind Hookfang. He didn't want his dad to see him dancing like this! It was totally unmanly and would be seen as weak. Well, there was also the rest of the entirety of Berk, too, but it was mostly his Dad.

Spitelout himself was about to give Snotlout a long lecture about seeming soft in front of others, but then swallowed back his words and took a step back as he saw his little boy hide behind the Monstrous Nightmare. Did.. did Snotty fear his own father?

**"_This is our island,_" The camera zoomed out, revealing the Riders, including the Twins, dancing and singing.**

Apart from Snotlout, the other Riders cringed as their parents looked at them amusedly.

** "_It's everyone's island!_**

**_Ours. It's our island!"_**

**And the screen cut to black.**

The Vikings stood up and yawned. It'd been what, nearly two hours? It was already night when they started watching, and even if time didn't continue outside, it was getting a bit late according to their own body clocks. The Witch herself, appearing out of seemingly nowhere, seemed tired as well.

"I believe that is it time that you all took a few hours of rest," The Witch proclaimed, her own magic and the spell of tiredness spreading through the Hall as she replaced the tables of the Great Hall with mattresses. Try as the Vikings might to fight the spell, everyone in the Hall felt their eyelids drooping, lulling them to sleep.

"I know you were all already tired. It would better if we continued in the morning."

And as the Vikings and Dragons succumbed to the land of dreams, the Witch winked, despite nobody else being awake enough to see or hear.

"Goodnight. I'll see you soon."

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter was way too long, I think I got carried away in a few areas xD**

**Regarding that one**** "Outlout" moment; ****Come on, Bilout is totally canon. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Don't even try to deny it, lol. Also, sorry if I seemed biphobic or something when writing their reactions. I'm not, I swear. Bi folks, y'all are 100% valid! Don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise!**

**And yes! Snotlout has more relatives! Griplout is mentioned in one of the episodes while Scablout, Wartlout, and Burplout are all mentioned in the School Of Dragons game! Granted, SOD might not be canon, but whatever.**

**Also! Some of the lines and details regarding napping positions and other things were partially inspired by the fic "Midnight Madness" by ****who is sabrina, so go check that out, please!**

**Anyways, I hope y'all are safe and self-isolating in this whole virus situation. Remember to wash your hands! Stay safe, everybody!**


	5. The Zippleback Experience

**Hi! Yes, hello, as some of the older readers can tell, I changed my username to Eikntt. I'm still the same person, nobody's hacked me or anything, nothing crazy happened, I just changed my username because of privacy reasons. I wanna seperate this writing identity from my main-internet-identity-thing and give myself some space. If anyone's confused about my gender because of it, I'm a girl. She/Her pronouns, though I'm fine with They/Them. Alright? Alright.**

**Robbie Streets: Thank you for liking this story!**** I don't drink coffee irl, more of a tea person, so... sorry, lol. Yes, I will show them Johann's betrayal eventually, maybe not super soon, though. Thank you for reading!**

**Aurora Borealis: An Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the Internet, localised entirely within the reviews?  
**

**Anywho, here's "The Zippleback Experience," requested**** by LadyArtemis13, OrangeCat64, Uh I Dunno, Aurora Borealis, and.. basically everyone in the reviews. ****I know you're all just waiting for them to see Hiccup punching Snotlout, lol.**

**Thank you for 100 follows!**

* * *

**Original episode was written by Will Morey and directed by Jae Hong Kim.**

* * *

Astrid awoke with a start, her axe almost immediately in her hands as she felt something brush past her. Shifting her eyes around warily in case of a possible attack, she relaxed when she realised that it was nothing more than Stormfly's tail. Looking around, she saw that a few of the other vikings had awoken as well, though most were still fast asleep.

Hiccup included. Much to Astrid's fond amusement, Hiccup was laying sprawled face-down on a mattress right next to her, hugging Toothless' tail as if it were a pillow. The Night Fury himself was laying sideways, his tongue sticking out and his leg twitching as he flew through whatever pleasant dream he was having. Both the Rider and Dragon smiled as they snored, and Astrid found herself smiling as well.

_He needed this_, Astrid thought. Hiccup had been stressing himself out lately and was always so busy. Between the war against the Flyers, and then helping the Vikings set up the new Dragon Racing Arena, and then gallivanting off with Toothless to who-knows-where, and _then_ deciding to work on all of his other projects including his new leg all at once, not to mention the fact that he had to be dragged into the Great Hall every other night for dinner just to spend some actual, quality time with the rest of the gang, it'd been a while since Hiccup got more than three hours of actual sleep.

Honestly, did he _ever_ take care of himself? Astrid rolled her eyes as she looked at him in thought. This would do him some real good.

Deciding she wasn't going to wake up her boyfriend, Astrid stood up and stretched, taking in her surroundings. She looked out the windows of the Great Hall; it was still night. That should've been expected, really, the Witch did say that time would not continue outside, but it was still quite surreal to actually see.

Adjusting her kransen and heading towards Hall's bathrooms, Astrid pulled out a toothpick and a small brush from her pouch and began brushing her teeth... before hearing one of the stalls exploding behind her.

"Yes, it worked!" Came Ruffnut's gleeful voice from within.

"Morning, Ruff." Astrid greeted primly as the other girl emerged from the stall, closing the door behind her.

"Heya, Round-Head."

Ruffnut smirked at Astrid's exasperated look and cackled, "Whoever's gonna use that stall next is gonna have the most explosive crap of her life!"

"I'll be sure to tell that to Heather, then."

"Aw," Ruffnut pouted, "You're no fun."

"So I've been told," Astrid continued brushing before a thought came to mind, "Hey, so... are you and Tuff doing okay? You two seemed pretty out of it last night."

Seeing the Twins so quiet and depressed was just so weird. Did they really still blame themselves for the whole Fireworm situation?

"Huh? What are you- _oh_," the prankster deflated as she remembered what they'd watched, "Yeah, I guess. I don't know, it just kinda blows that we almost got the Edge burnt down."

"While you guys weren't exactly the ideal rulers.."

"Gee, thanks."

"Let me finish!" Astrid snapped, silencing the other girl, "As I was saying.. While you guys weren't exactly the ideal rulers, it's not like the Edge almost burning down was entirely your fault. I mean, you saw what happened, twice! The Fireworms were basically unstoppable until the Night Terrors showed up. Even if you guys weren't the rulers, the Edge would've probably almost burnt down anyway."

"Huh," Ruffnut remarked, eyes widening in surprise at Astrid's words, "I guess we haven't thought of that."

Her thoughtful look then soon turned into a frown, "But I bet Hiccup would've come up with using the Night Terrors if he didn't have to deal with us."

"Probably," Astrid shrugged, "But we'll never really know for sure, will we?"

"I guess not," Ruffnut cheered up, "Hey, thanks!"

"No proble- What the-? TUFFNUT?!" Astrid shouted furiously, instinctively grabbing hold of her axe's handle as she turned around to see the man standing by the room's entrance behind her.

"That was_ beautiful_," Tuffnut sniffed and smiled as he wiped away non-existent tears, having heard the whole speech.

"_Bro_," Even Ruffnut was annoyed, "It's the girls' bathroom. Haven't you heard of _privacy, _dude?"

"Chicken needed to do her business!" Tuffnut defended himself as the aforementioned bird hopped over his shoulder, waddling towards a small hole near the corner to do her dirty work.

"And when you gotta go," He snapped his fingers, "You gotta go. Besides, I'm technically _not_ in the room, I'm just standing outside the door."

"Ugh," Astrid rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna bury you alive."

"Hey, great idea!" Tuffnut perked up, leaning sideways to address his sister, "Ruff, we should _totally_ bury someone alive!"

"Definitely," Ruffnut agreed, already formulating a plan in her mind, "What about Snotlout?"

"Well," Astrid pocketed her brush and prepared her egress, leaving the Twins to their schemes, "That makes things easier for me, since I don't have to repeat the pep-talk."

"Seeya later, Roundie!"

"_Ughh_."

It was much, much later when all the Vikings had fully awoken and (mostly) brushed their teeth. More than a few were quite grumpy at having been forced to fall asleep under the Witch's magic, but most of the rest were just enjoying themselves and calling upon the Witch's magic to summon breakfast. The mattresses had been turned back into Hall's old tables and chairs, much to Snotlout's disappointment. He was one of the last to wake up before hobbling over to sleep on Hookfang's snout instead, claiming that he 'needed his beauty sleep.'

Hiccup and Toothless had a quick flight around the Hall; a quick, circular lap near the ceiling. The Great Hall was only so big, after all. It wasn't much, but it would do for the time being. Once the two were done with that, Hiccup walked over to where Astrid sat.

"May I have this seat, Milady?"

"You may, Milord," Astrid smirked. She smiled as she saw that the heavy bags under his eyes had gotten much smaller.

The two shared a small laugh as Hiccup sat down and pecked Astrid's cheek, Toothless and Stormfly playing with each other behind them.

"You know," Hiccup started, sneaking a glance at the Hall's windows, "I-I-I'm not sure if I should say, 'Good Morning,' 'Good Evening,' 'Goodnight,' or even 'Good Morn-night.'"

"_Good Morn-night_?" Astrid raised an eyebrow before chuckling, "Yeah, this whole 'Time-doesn't-move-outside-this-place' thing _is_ pretty weird. It's like a _really_ long sleepover."

There was a pause. A concerned look flitted across Hiccup's features, as a thought came to mind.

"Astrid, are the Twins okay?" He asked, "They looked pretty down last night, and I saw you guys talking earlier, and-"

"Yeah," Astrid replied, "I knocked some sense into their heads."

Hiccup smiled, "Ah, the old Hofferson pep-talk treatment, then?"

"Yep."

As the other Dragon Riders sat nearby and the noise in the Hall grew into a loud din of unintelligible chitters, several lines of smoke appeared, gathering above the glowing screen and dispersing to reveal the Witch levitating above.

"Ahem," The Witch coughed into her hand and tapped her staff as the Vikings turned their attention towards her.

"My sincerest apologies for the sudden disruption and putting you and your dragons to sleep," The Witch began as she saw a small portion of the Vikings giving her suspicious glares, "I truly meant no harm in doing so; you would have all fallen asleep without my help anyways; albeit quite a while later and at fairly staggered timings, which wouldn't have been very fun."

"But," She continued, "Now that you are all fully rested and -I hope- eating breakfast, if you all could so very kindly settle down, we can begin watching another of the Riders' adventures."

Many of the Vikings scowled at being addressed by the Witch as if they were nothing more than school children, much to her amusement, but quickly settled down as she vanished and their curiosity overtook them.

The Twins noticed the Witch licking a rather familiar concoction of theirs as she reappeared and sat atop a ledge located on one of the hall's pillars; Ruff-Cream-or-Tuff-Cream. Or rather, Ice-Cream as they and the other Riders ended up calling it. Only it looked more sanitary.

"Uh," Tuffnut whispered to his sister, "Did you tell anyone else the recipe for ice cream?"

"_Nada_," Ruffnut responded. The Twins, as far as they knew, were the only ones who actually knew how to create the rare delicacy that the other Riders often practically _begged_ them to make on a hot summers' day. Hey, it made them a decent amount of profit. Might as well, right?

"But..." She stroked her chin, "I _did_ think about telling the recipe to my kids if I ever had any. Pass it down the family line, nab some quick gold for my descendants, you know."

"Ew," Tuffnut gagged at the very thought, "You think about having kids?"

'Motherly,' and 'Ruffnut,' did not belong in the same sentence.

"_Did_!" Ruffnut growled, smacking her brother in the face, "As in, _past tense_!"

"So..." Tuffnut's voice trailed off as his eyes widened in realisation, as did his sister's. The two then quietly shouted in synchronisation, "She's from the _future_!"

"Mutton-brains," Snotlout scoffed at the Twins' ramblings, still a bit groggy and half-awake from his slumber.

The Witch nearly choked on her morning dessert and almost dropped her staff as she heard the Twins' ramblings. She'd completely forgotten that the Twins were the ones who invented ice cream. Was she really that obvious? Oh, well. Of course it had to be the Twins who'd figured it out first. Go figure.

**Meanwhile, the screen began to** **whirl.**

**The screen fades from black to reveal Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs and Meatlug carrying a large stone using a net and flying over a cluster of snowy mountains. Snotlout, Hookfang, Astrid, and Stormfly are shown flying behind, also carrying a large stone with a net.**

**"Alright, guys!" Hiccup called as the camera zoomed in on him, "****Let's drop the foundation right about...here."**

The Riders perked up, a mix of exasperated grins and groans made evident on their faces. Finally, something a bit more light-hearted.

The Twins faltered a little as they remembered how Barf and Belch had left them alone, as did the Zippleback themselves, but almost instantly cheered up as they realised this would likely mean they'd get to see Hiccup punch Snotlout again. Ah, what a delightful dramatic tale this was going to be.

Or rather... dramatic _tail_? Because dragons? Eh.

**The four dragons let go of their nets, dropping the two large stones.**

**"That should work," Hiccup said, peering down, "Perfect location."**

**The camera zooms towards Fishlegs as he speaks, "I, for one, couldn't be happier that we're finally-"**

**"Setting up the new watchtower," Snotlout interrupts, him and Hookfang flying so suddenly and close that it scares the poor Gronckle, "We know."**

Snotlout snickered as he saw Fishlegs grumbling unhappily in his seat. Sometimes it was like Snotlout had made it his personal mission to interrupt Fishlegs with every given opportunity, one of the few duties that Snotlout happily upheld. Not that he didn't care about Fishface or anything, but _man_ did he get so boring sometimes.

"Wait, why did you guys need a watchtower?" One of the children asked, "You already have dragons that can fly all around the place, plus you've got all those cool Night Terrors and stuff!"

"That's what _I_ said!" Snotlout shouted.

"Well," Hiccup took it upon himself to calmly explain, "Sometimes, the dragons need to rest. You wouldn't like standing and walking for hours non-stop, would you?"

The child shook his head in thought, no he wouldn't. He'd probably get tired enough to fall asleep after the first hour or so. Huh. He hadn't thought of that.

"That's why we needed the watch-tower," Hiccup continued, careful to use simple and quick language so the child could understand without getting too bored, "So both us and our dragons could rest and relax while also keeping a good look-out for any bad-guys."

"Oh!" The small boy nodded his head in understanding. Meanwhile, Snotlout nudged Fishlegs with an elbow, pointing at the two.

"See, Fishface?" Snotlout urged, smirking, "That's how you should explain stuff!"

"Oh, so now you want me to talk down to you like a little kid?" Fishlegs asked sarcastically, smirking as well. Snotlout's own smirk died down fairly quickly as his own words were turned against him. By someone who was actually a few months _younger_ than him, no less!

"Shut up, Fishface." Snotlout scowled as Fishlegs smirked, the Twins snickering as they watched the scene unfold.

**"We've been hearing about it for the past.. Oh, I don't know," ****The view switches to a close up of the rider as he counts his fingers, ****"week, month...What comes next?"**

"It wasn't _that_ long!" Fishlegs protested, crossing his arms to further drive his point as the Vikings gave him amused looks, "I only talked about it for a few days."

"Felt like a few years to me," retorted Snotlout with a mocking smile.

**"Guys, look," Hiccup cuts them off before it devolves into an argument, "This is important. We've been seeing ships of the northern coast that have absolutely no reason to be there."**

**"Now with this," Hiccup gestures to the foundation of the watchtower, "We can send up an early warning signal if they come into our waters."**

**The gang flies downward, landing in the snow. The distinct lack of a Zippleback and two twins is noticeable.**

"Where'd the Thorston lad and lass head off to?" Mulch asked.

"Probably wreaking havoc, somewhere," Spitelout responded, getting highly offended looks and dramatic gasps from the Twins, "What?"

"It's not just havoc, it's _glorious_ havoc," Ruffnut corrected with a tut, "There's a key difference!"

"Yeah, because causing an avalanche and nearly getting killed is _totally_ glorious," Astrid muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, nobody really got hurt and nothing too important was damaged," Tuffnut shrugged, "T'was fairly mild for us!"

"Yeah, nothing important, except for all my legs," Hiccup deadpanned.

"Consider it motivation for you to make stronger ones," Tuffnut smirked, taking Hiccup by the shoulders, "And, considering your recent projects in the forge, I believe we're due for a thank you."

"...Right."

**"If you're talking about Dagur and Ryker," Snotlout starts, "and that's who I assume we're talking about-"**

**"Actually," Hiccup clarifies, "I wasn't referring to-"**

"Who were you referring to, then, Brother?" Asked Dagur, turning to look at Hiccup inquisitively.

"I... don't remember," Hiccup shrugged in embarrassment, "I think I was just talking about Dragon Hunters in general, maybe?"

**"How about this?" Snotlout gestures with his arms open before retracting them, "Whoever's out there that shouldn't be out there, let's just get on these very effective fire-breathing war machines-" He points an arm towards Hookfang, "and go off and blast them into oblivion!"**

**"Because that's not who we are!" Hiccup says, ****turning around, "Since when do we go blasting people into oblivion?"**

"Ah, oops, what's that I'm hearing?" Snotlout smirked, putting a hand to his ear before nudging an eye-rolling Hiccup, "Oh yeah, it's the sound of that _not aging well at all!_"

"Oh, give him a break, Snotlout," Astrid defended, "It's not like any of us knew that all those battles against the Dragon Hunters would lead into an all-out war. _You_ certainly didn't."

"Thank you, Milady."

Snotlout put up his hands in surrender, "I'm just saying!"

**"Don't worry, Hookster," Snotlout pat one of Hookfang's horns, "He doesn't speak for us."**

**Meanwhile, the sound of Ruffnut and Tuffnut whooping can be heard in the distance. As Snotlout and Hookfang turn around, the camera pans to show the Twins snow-surfing Barf and Belch down the mountain.**

**"Or them. _Definitely_ not for them."**

A small portion of the Vikings groaned. So that's where the Twins had headed off to. The others, however, being the daredevil-stubborn-mostly-safety-disregarding Vikings they were, did seem at the very least intrigued. Many of the younger ones even cheered, and, to their parents' utmost dismay, seemed like they wanted to try it out. It wouldn't be too different from Bob-sledding, now, would it?

Bob sighed in quiet relief. Well, at least now he didn't have to be everyone else's sleigh.

"Woah-ho-ho!" Gustav chirped in amazement and shook his Nightmare's head, "Fanghook, we've _GOT_ to try that out!"

"It actually _is_ pretty fun," Hiccup admitted, before throwing his girlfriend a sly look, "Astrid's a dirty cheater, though."

"Oh, ha-ha," Astrid smirked, "You're just mad because you lost, Haddock."

"Toothless' tail got frozen! What did you want me to do?"

**"Here we go!" Ruffnut shouted as the camera zooms in. They steer Barf and Belch in a zig-zagging motion as they zip down.**

**"Oh, I love to cut through the fresh powder!" Tuffnut remarked, "Don't you, sis?!"**

**"Yeah!**** Just like a warm knife through yak butter!"**

"..Oh, great," A viking sighed, rubbing his belly as it rumbled, "Now I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." His wife snarked, giving him a flat look.

The Twins snickered, "You're welcome!"

**"Woo!" Ruffnut cheers as the dragon leaps off a rock, going faster and faster.**

**"Blast! Blast!" Tuffnut commands as the Zippleback shoots and ignites their gas.**

The Vikings groaned in frustration, slapping a hand on their faces. Of _course_ they blasted the snow as they slid down it. The Twins, meanwhile, took no notice and gave each other a high-five. No regrets!

** "Yeah!" Another explosion ensues, "Zippleback, baby!"**

**"Those two muttonheads better not bring all that snow up there down on us!" Astrid shouted as she pointed at the aforementioned muttonheads.  
**

**Snotlout stares, impressed, at the two, as if wanting to try it himself, while everyone and every-dragon else looks either exasperated or apprehensive.**

The Vikings who'd noticed gave Snotlout an incredulous look.

**"It's not the snow I'm worried about," Hiccup starts as an avalanche comes crashing down, "It's the ice!"**

_'Ah,'_ The Twins realised in remembrance. Maybe just _one_ teensy regret or two.

The occupants of the Hall gasped in alarm. That couldn't be good.

**Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs fly off on their dragons. Meanwhile, the Twins**** lose control of Barf and Belch, grunting as they roll this way and that, landing headfirst into the snow while the Zippleback continues falling.**

Gobber's eyes widened as he realised just exactly what day this was, and a slow smirk crept up his face, much to the confused stares of everyone around him who obviously couldn't read his mind. So _this_ was how it happened! Oh, this was going to be fun.

**"That hurt!" The Twins dangle their legs in the air before being rescued. Tuffnut is pulled up by Stormfly's jaws, while ****Meatlug pulls out Ruff. The Twins hang upside down in their claws and watch in dismay as their own dragon struggles as they continue rolling down.**

**"Barf!" Ruffnut shouts in concern.**

**"Belch!" Tuffnut calls, worried.**

The Zippleback smiled warmly at their riders' care and concern for them. Well, as much as they even _could_ smile, given the massive underbite that evolution and biology had so very kindly handed to them that was unfortunately quite common in nearly every dragon species.

It certainly did well to give them a powerful bite as well as terrifying their enemies. Making facial expressions, though? Not so much. Thank the skies for their expressive eyes.

**Hiccup and Toothless speed down the hill, trying to catch the falling dragon, "Come on, bud!"**

**Barf and Belch snarl, positively terrified, as the ice continues to rumble, and soon fall off the cliff.**

The dragons crooned in concern, and yet wondered why the Zippleback didn't simply fly once they were in the air. Then again, the two-heads never really _were_ the smartest of dragons.

Barf snorted in annoyance, and Belch 'tch'ed at the other dragons' not-so-silent query. As if _they_ would be able to use their wings properly while panicking, falling at high speeds, being blinded by the snow, and all the while trying to escape an avalanche.

**Just before they get swallowed by the snow, Hiccup and Toothless manage to rescue them in time and bring them out of harm's way. Toothless roars as he carries the limp dragon, before dropping them on the ground.**

**"Woah!" Tuffnut grunts as he and Ruffnut are plopped down as well, "Eugh.."**

**Stormfly squawks as she and Astrid land behind Hiccup and Toothless. Barf and Belch, now in life-debt mode, give Hiccup a lick.**

**"Ah!" Hiccup closes his eyes as he gets covered in dragon slobber, "Okay, okay. I-I get it," The Zippleback retreats, "y-you're welcome."**

"Eugh," Hiccup groaned, resting his head on an arm, "That took me forever to dry out!"

Toothless, meanwhile, getting an idea, snickered. Tilting his head towards his human, the Night Fury stuck his tongue out and assumed a pouncing stance.

"Oh-oh-oh, _no_, Toothless!" Hiccup backed away in haste, "Toothless, don't-"

Too late! Quickly wrapping Hiccup in a bear hug, Toothless happily gave his little human a shower of slobber, much to the amusement of the chuckling crowd around them.

"Augh!" Was the only word the teen managed to get out before he was practically drowning in dragon saliva. Managing to escape the playful Night Fury's ticklish grasp, Hiccup wiped at his clothes and gave Toothless an equally playful glare, "Oh.. Okay, okay! You did that on purpose, bud! You _know_ that doesn't wash out!"

"_Eww_," Hiccup looked down at his soaking, wet, and stinky armoured tunic, "Great, now I'm gonna have dragon slobber all over me while we watch!"

Toothless smirked, triumphant.

**Hiccup moves to dismount Toothless, metal leg first.**

**"Uh, Hiccup!" Astrid warns, "I wouldn't do that if I were-"**

**"What-" Hiccup slips and falls on the ice as the metal gives way, "****Ahh!"**

**Astrid flinches back, "..You."**

**"Oh, right."**

**Barf and Belch pluck Hiccup from the ground, an arm in each mouth, revealing Hiccup's twisted and broken metal leg.**

"Doh..!" the Vikings winced, taking in the sight and giving Hiccup sympathetic looks.

"Ah, so that's how that happened!" Gobber said in realisation, which Hiccup confirmed with a nod.

**"Oh. Uh..." Hiccup asks awkwardly, "Can you put me down, guys?"**

**Hiccup grunts in pain, nearly slipping over again before stabilizing himself with a hand on Toothless' saddle.**

**"And it's for moment like these.." The one-legged viking turns around and pulls out another leg from Toothless' saddlebag, "..that I always carry a spare."**

"...I should probably start doin' that," a random amputee remarked, rubbing her stump. The other amputees gave the woman, 'Are you serious?' glares, to which she returned with a defensive one. _Always have a spare. _They thought that was just common sense by now. Then again, Berkians weren't exactly known for having common sense.

**The leg is replaced, and Barf and Belch watch curiously as Hiccup puts the mangled leg into the bag.**

**"So! If that's all you need from us," Tuffnut rubbed his hands together, "then we'll just be going back to..."**

**"Toothless?" Hiccup requests as the Twins begin walking off. **

**"Hey," Tuffnut shouts, pointing a finger as a plasma blast narrowly misses his foot, "Your dragon just shot at us!"  
**

**"Yes, I know," Hiccup leans back on Toothless' body, "I told him to."**

The Vikings chuckled.

**"Not cool, T!" Tuffnut points at the Night Fury, "Not cool at all!"**

**"Anyway," Hiccup stalks towards the Twins as Toothless growls in the background, "Since you two seem so eager to spend some time away from the group," He points at the two, "you get to pull the first two shifts of patrol duty."**

**"He's really become a tyrant," Ruffnut whispered, tilting her head as Tuffnut agreed, crossing his arms, "****Power will do that to you."**

Hiccup rolled his eyes and gave the Twins an exasperated glare.

**The camera cuts to show all the Riders flying upwards, as the Twins and the Zippleback break off from the group to do patrol. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang fly back to their huts. The shot cuts once more to focus on Hiccup and Toothless landing outside their own hut.**

**"Ugh," Hiccup groaned, grabbing the handle to his door, "This leg needs to be filed down, it's pinching me."**

**He then proceeds to yelp as he gets buried under a large pile of fish.**

**"Oh, for the love of Thor!" Hiccup shouts, "Who did this?! Wait a minute, why am I even asking? Ruff?! Tuff?! Oh, I got another shift with your names on it!"**

"Ah," Ruffnut remarked with a smile, and struck a bowing pose, "We're pleased that our reputation has caused any sort of Loki-ing to be attributed to us!"

"Truly flattering," Tuffnut agreed, "But alas, it was not us. It appears that our dragon, though, has learned-eth from-eth ze masters.. _eth_."

Perhaps it was the drowsiness that came when one had just recently woken up, but Hiccup couldn't stop the small, tired, but still friendly smirk creeping up his face, in spite of his better instincts, and played along, "Your reputation precedes you."

**"Really?" Hiccup asks as ****Toothless dines in, "****You're eating the evidence?"**

"Infinite appetite, much?" Hiccup teased, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Toothless only let out a draconic chuckle. Hey, it was fresh, raw, and delicious fish. He just couldn't let that all go to waste, could he? It would be such a shame to let such a gloriously plentiful pile of delicacies rot, unconsumed and untouched.

Pulling himself out of his own dramatically poetic thoughts, Toothless rumbled happily as he remembered the Witch's magic and a barrel of fish soon came descending from nowhere and plopping down in front of him.

"Fish addict," Hiccup teased once more. It was just a miracle how Toothless could eat so much in a single day and _still_ remain around the same weight. Incredibly fit, too.

**The scene cuts to reveal Hiccup and Toothless flying over the sea and around the island looking for the Twins.**

**"All right, where are they?" Hiccup whispered, scanning the area, "I guess you just look for a fire, or any other catastrophe, they'll be close by."**

**Toothless** **flies forward, until ****Hiccup notices something fly past behind them, and turns to look, not seeing anything.**

**"Huh?" He looks forward to see Barf and Belch flying without their riders towards them, "What the-"**

** They snatch him off of Toothless, leaving the poor dragon to fall with a loud screech.**

**"No, Belch!" Hiccup yells as his hand is shown stuck in Belch's mouth, "No, no, no, no! You drop me! You drop me right now!"**

"Did you _seriously_ just ask him to drop you?" Astrid asked, incredulous.

"Um.." Hiccup wasn't really sure how to respond, "..Yes?"

"Seriously?" Astrid deadpanned. She _really_ needed to get him to work on not instinctively disregarding his own safety, "Couldn't you have just asked them to fly you down, _safely_?"

"I mean, falling _would_ have been way faster.." Hiccup pressed his fingers together guiltily, as if he was a child being busted for mischief, which was _way_ too adorable for Astrid to keep up her serious glare. Damn his dramatic flair!

"..and.. funner," Hiccup finally admitted in a quiet whisper.

Astrid rolled her eyes with a small smirk, "Adrenaline junkie."

"Am not!"

"Are to!"

**Belch follows the command with a grunt.**

**"Woaaah!" Hiccup starts falling, "Toothless!"**

"Hiccup!" Stoick bellowed in a state of fatherly panic, and then turned to look at the real thing with utmost incredulity, "Did you forget to hook yourself to the saddle _again_?!"

"Uh.." The teen shrugged, smiling sheepishly, "May-be?"

Stoick gave his son a blank stare.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay!"

Stoick sighed, and then gave his nervous son a warm smile.

"I know," Stoick replied with a soft laugh, "Just.. be more careful, next time, alright?"

Hiccup grinned, as did Toothless, "Aren't I always?"

Toothless snorted. Yeah, right. Hiccup would always forget and keep falling. It was practically the status quo, at this point. And yet still, no matter what, Toothless would always be there to catch and save him.

**He manages to get back on Toothless and activate the tail, but alas, the two end up crash-landing straight into the forest below.**

The Vikings winced.

**Hiccup grunts as they land, before getting up and rubbing his own head.**

**"You all there, bud?" Hiccup asks as Toothless rises, shaking himself.**

**"I think I am.." He dusts himself off, looking down, "..and I spoke too soon."**

**He detaches and pulls up yet another broken prosthetic.**

About half of the Vikings chuckled slightly at the lad's misfortune, while the other half, mostly all the amputees, winced and gave Hiccup sympathetic looks, which he returned with a grateful one.

"Heh, heh," Gobber chuckled as well, "And so that's how _that_ happened!"

"..Yeah," Hiccup grumbled in confirmation.

**"Oh, don't worry, bud," Hiccup consoles as Toothless crooned in concern, moving aside to let Hiccup hop over and open his saddlebag, "I always carry a spare for my spare!"  
**

"And this whole little incident is why I now carry a spare for my spare for my spare," Hiccup sighed dryly, rubbing his temples, "Though, hopefully the new leg will be able to take much more damage."

"How many spares do you even have?" Fishlegs inquired, curiously.

"Eh..." The young heir made an incoherent hand gesture, "About.. seven, right now."

"Oh, thank goodness for that," Gobber huffed, crossing his arm and prosthetic arm, "Yer keep breakin' them in all those stunts of yours. They aren't cheap, ya know!"

**Barf and Belch land near them with a screech, and drop a load of fish**** at Hiccup's feet.**

**"Wa-Wait a minute, it was you guys?" Hiccup asks, "You left me all that fish?"**

"So proud," Ruffnut smiled, wiping a fake tear from her eye.

**As if to confirm, Belch opens his mouth full of fish next to Hiccup, "Oh, okay, if you guys are here, and the Twin are Thor-knows-where, then.." Belch drops the fish and closes his mouth, "..Who's patrolling the island?"**

"Tsk, tsk, brother." Dagur remarked, to the eye rolls of the rest. Well, no wonder Hiccup was so easy to capture that one time.

Hiccup couldn't help the lame joke that slipped out of his mouth next, and feigned a tired sigh, "Oh, _Brother_."

"Ha-ah! Hey!"

Toothless gently but firmly whacked Hiccup in the head with his tail for that, and rumbled with laughter. Dagur snickered quietly to himself as the Night Fury did so. Whether it was because of the pun or the slapstick, the world may never know. Probably both, though.

**Quickly, Hiccup mounts Toothless and flies off, Barf and Belch hot on their trail. Meanwhile, the scene fades to show a rather beautiful looking beach on ****the other side of the island. The sound of two Dragon Hunters grunting is heard as a small boat pulls up on shore. Alarmed, one of the Night Terrors wake up, screeching.**

**"Dragon sentries!" Observes the hunter sitting behind. The other one sitting in front of the boat pulls up a bow, the arrow tipped with dragon-root, "****Oh, this'll put it to sleep for a bit!"**

**He shoots, and the Night Terror falls to the ground, allowing the two hunters to dock their boat.**

"Oh, no!" Fishlegs gasped, covering his mouth in concern, "Poor little guy!"

The humans gripped their weapons and glared at the screen while the dragons growled dangerously, as if they could just leap into the screen and finish off the hunters themselves. The few Night Terrors who were present screeched angrily and worriedly as they saw their fellow flock-mate fall.

"..Wait a minute.." Dagur realised, finally putting the pieces together, "..This is when I kidnapped you and the Zippleback ended up trying to save you by himself!"

"Bingo," Hiccup confirmed. The Vikings gave Dagur a sharp glare, only to be countered by the defensive looks and stances from the Riders, Berserkers, Defenders of the Wing, and their dragons.

"He's changed," Heather reminded the rest of the audience, who slowly backed down. She made eye contact with Mala, and they both nodded, as if sharing some sort of silent pact. Heather made a mental note to ask the Witch to show something that painted her brother in a more positive light.. his fake death, maybe?

**The hunters jog onto the island unnoticed. The camera pans upward to the base, ominously.  
**

**Meanwhile, back on the Edge, the Twins are seen brisk-walking together near the arena, worrying their pants off about Barf and Belch.**

**"This is all your fault!" Ruffnut accuses.**

**"M-my fault?" Tuffnut pressed his fingers against his chest, "_My fault?!"_**

**"It's your attitude, bro!" Ruffnut crosses her arms and then points at Tuffnut's chest, as Tuffnut puts his hands on his waist, "It's always been your attitude. And it finally drove our beloved dragon away!"**

Barf and Belch withered guiltily as they saw the Twins argue. Normally, they'd think nothing of it. Their humans fought all the time! But somehow, this felt.. different. Like somehow the fact that their humans were fighting over who had supposedly _driven them away_ made the two-headed-dragon feel personally responsible.

**"My attitude?" Tuffnut leans back a bit, "My attitude is fun, carefree, adventurous, and loves to take long walks."**

**"And it doesn't matter if it's on a beach or not!"**

**Ruffnut doesn't seem convinced, "You're ridiculous!"**

**"Oh, yeah? Well.." Tuffnut sniffs her.**

The rest of the Riders, as well as a few of the other Vikings in the hall, gagged. The dragons didn't seem too weirded out, though. Sniffing each other for any pests or strange scents was just a normal occurrence for dragon-kind.

**"you smell like a barrel of 20-year-old cod livers!" Tuffnut concludes, pulling back and crossing his arms, "That's what drove them away!"**

**"Hey!" Ruffnut protests, analysing her armpits, and I can't believe I just wrote that phrase, "This smell is not achieved easily."**

"Yeah, you smell so _good_," Snotlout blinked multiple times at Ruffnut as he tried yet another fruitless attempt at flirting, "It's so.. _faganté_,"

"I think you mean _fragrant_, Snotlout," Fishlegs corrected, before sighing dreamily, "It is fragrant, though."

"_UGH_!" Ruffnut groaned loudly at the two flirtatious vikings as she pulled on her braids in frustration, "Can you guys just _stop_ being so weird?!"

Seriously, being weird was her and Tuff's job! What was going on with them? These guys were like _brothers_ to her! She could probably handle it if it was just Snotlout doing the flirting, but now Fishlegs was in on it, too! She couldn't choose between them! It was even _weirder_ considering the fact that Heather, who was practically _married_ to Fishlegs before she moved out, was sitting right there next to them!

Speaking of whom, Heather put out a comforting hand on Ruffnut's shoulder as she retreated from the two boys, and offered her a sympathetic smile. Barf and Belch guarded their space, using their necks, tails, and wings to refuse anyone else's entry.

"You'll get used to it," Heather consoled. Meanwhile, her thoughts went elsewhere, as she gazed at Fishlegs, before looking down sadly. She _knew_ things just wouldn't work out between them, their directions and goals in life were just too different; And yet, she still couldn't help but mourn their relationship for just a single moment. She then proceeded to mentally slap herself before her woes were given too much time to form and turn darker.

"Yo," Ruffnut looked over at Heather in concern, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Uh.. are _you_ okay?"

"Huh?" Heather responded, "Oh, uh.. yeah."

Ruffnut looked sheepish, seemingly reading Heather's mind, "Yeah, so... sorry about uh.. You know.. Fishlegs, and stuff."

Heather put on a cheerful smirk. Ruff clearly wasn't exactly the best at being comforting, but the fact that she at least tried did give Heather a little ease. The Zippleback unfolded, sensing that the two of them had calmed.

"Well, then!" Ruffnut perked up considerably, as if nothing bad had happened at all, and glared at her brother, "At least _someone_ out there appreciates this smell!"

Tuffnut stook out his tongue.

**Meanwhile, growling is heard in the distance as Hiccup, Toothless, Barf, and Belch fly into view behind them, causing the Twins to turn around.**

**"Hiccup, you found them!" Tuffnut points as he and his sister run towards them.**

**"Where did you two go?!" Ruffnut asked worriedly, she and Tuffnut holding Barf and Belch by their heads, "You had us worried sick!"**

**The Twins look on in confusion as the Zippleback leaves the Twins' sides.**

**"Wait, where'd they go?" Hiccup starts, still on Toothless, who watches the two-headed dragon as they move beside them, "Well, let's start with they filled my hut with fish, crashed me and Toothless out of the sky, and, for their finale, they broke my second spare.." He points to what is not his metal leg, but rather his real one, "..leg!"**

Hiccup blushed sheepishly, now realising his blunder, as a few good-natured laughs and chuckles broke out within the hall.

"How do you even forget where your metal leg is?" Snotlout snickered.

"I-I-I was just tired!" Hiccup defended himself, but to no avail.

**"So, if my calculations are correct," Ruffnut pointed a hand, resting her elbow on the other arm, "and they usually are..."**

**"...that would mean," Tuffnut had his arms crossed, "that our dear Hiccup is on his..."**

**"Last leg!" They chorused in unison, triumphant smiles on their faces, and then the Twins start laughing uncontrollably.**

The Twins started laughing in freaky synchronisation with their past selves. A few of the other Vikings, Hiccup included, rolled their eyes exasperatedly, but the rest of the Hall just laughed along with them.

**"Get it? See what we did?" Tuffnut asked, he and his sister still giddy with laughter, "It's because of your leg. You don't have any more!"**

**The camera switches to show our beloved Hiccup, clearly tired and unamused, as Ruff continues giggling.**

**"I think he gets it," Ruffnut tilted her head.**

**"Uh, yeah, yeah," Hiccup held a hand out, "Listen."**

**"Well, if you wanna flip the script," Ruffnut approached as Hiccup dismounted, "the new leg is slimming!"**

**"Not that you need to be slimmed," Tuffnut follows, "I mean, I think, for your height, you're probably an ideal weight. Healthy."**

**"The four of you.. belong together," Hiccup directed Barf and Belch towards the Twins as Toothless watches, "Now, please, can you get back on patrol a-and..." He walked back with a shrug, "try to keep these two... well.." He paused, raising up his hands, too tired to really think of what else to say, "Oh, yeah, just go."**

A few snickers were heard.

**"Last leg.." Hiccup muttered as a grin broke out on Toothless' face, "Oh, don't laugh, Toothless!" Hiccup says as he mounts, "You're above that!"**

"Literally," Tuffnut joked, "Get it? Cause it's- because he-"

"We get it, dude." Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her brother's lame attempt at a joke. Unknowingly and coincidentally, she'd taken the words right out of Astrid's mouth, who now had nothing else to say except for a single, "Ugh."

**And they take off, leaving the Twins trying the hold on to Barf and Belch, who shake this way and that trying to get them off.**

**"Bad dragon!" Tuffnut scolds as they fall off the dragon's necks, and the Zippleback flies off after Hiccup and Toothless.**

**"Attitude!" Ruffnut accuses.**

**"Cod livers!" Tuffnut rebuts.**

**Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless fly straight ahead, until the sound of the Zippleback's growls alert Hiccup to their presence.**

**"Oh, for the love of.." Hiccup rolls his eyes, "Okay, bud. Let's ditch the Zippleback."**

**They swerve to the side and fly downwards, going through a hole in the cliffside and up, out of the arena, but Barf and Belch are hot on their tails.**

**"Oh, get away from me, you crazy dragon!" Hiccup shouts as he and Toothless head towards the forest, trying to lose them below the leaves. It doesn't work.**

**"Ugh," Hiccup groans as the Zippleback appears by their side, snorting. "Are you serious?"**

**They zoom upwards, swirling around a mountainside. Barf and Belch stop for a moment, looking between their heads in confusion, before zooming forwards.**

**Toothless roars quietly as he and Hiccup emerge from a cave, the Zippleback flying right past them.**

**"I think we lost 'em!" Hiccup smiled, until he hears a growl from behind. "..And they're behind me, right?"**

**Sure enough, the camera pans outwards to show Barf and Belch right behind them. Toothless growled in annoyance.**

Toothless rolled his eyes as the rest of the Great Hall chuckled in amusement.

**The scene switches to the interior of Hiccup's hut at night. Hiccup stares, sitting up on his bed, as the Zippleback stares back.**

**"I think I'm starting to see Zipplebacks in my sleep," He sighs, laying down. **

**Barf and Belch watch as Toothless crawls atop his stone slab, warming it up with his fire before stamping out the flames and laying to sleep.  
**

**After a while, Belch bumps his head on Barf's, who growls in annoyance before widening his eyes in realisation.**

**Getting a pretty terrible idea, the two prepare their gas and spark, circling around on the floor.  
**

The Twins glued their eyes to the screen, with a stupidly large grin as they realised what their dragon was about to do onscreen.

"They didn't.." Astrid's jaw hung open.

"They did," Hiccup confirmed.

**Hiccup awakes with a pained gasp as he the quakes cause him to knock his head against the ceiling, and Toothless growls worriedly as Hiccup moves out of his bed.**

**"What, what?" He falls on the floor, "Gah!"**

**As the ground continues quaking, Hiccup crawls next to Toothless on the stone bed to see Barf and Belch having done with their twirling. Barf let out his gas and Belch prepared to ignite.**

The Twins guffawed, "No way!"

**"Oh no, wait," Hiccup held out a hand and shouted, "DON'T!"**

**Once again, too late. Flames burst out of each end of the hut and the view switches to show Hiccup walking out of his front door, the inside of his hut smoking and him being covered in soot with wide eyes.**

The Vikings laughed at the sight of the young heir's face, and even Hiccup himself couldn't stop chuckling at how simply ridiculous he looked. Oh, that was priceless!

**Hiccup's eye twitches, and he lets out a cough, before falling sideways to the ground. The screen blacks out.  
**

"Rest in pieces," Snotlout joked, faking a solemn look and a melancholic voice.

**"Okay," Hiccup says as he rubs his eyes, getting up as the scene changes to show that it's the morning. Unfortunately, he gets tackled by the Zippleback the moment he awakes.**

**"Ugh!" Hiccup exclaims as he pushes away the two heads. Toothless looks on and snorts unhappily.**

"Someone's jealous," The short Jorgenson teased. Toothless probably didn't really take well to having his time with Hiccup being interrupted by a two-headed maniac.

"Daw," Hiccup bent down and rubbed Toothless' head, as the silly Night Fury's grumpy pout turned into a gummy smile, "You know you'll always be my favourite dragon, bud!"

Toothless cooed and rumbled happily as the rubs turned into gentle scratches, hitting the sweet spot between his ear-flaps. No doubt about it.

**The view changes once again, as the Dragon Hunters use a spyglass to observe the scene from afar.**

The mood shifted instantaneously as the Vikings gripped their weapons. The dragons let out a low, angry growl.

**"Those hides will fetch a high price at the Northern Markets!" One Hunter remarks.**

**"Focus," The other Hunter says as he puts down the glass, "That's not what we're here for."**

**"Well, how are we supposed to take him if he's guarded by _two_ dragons?"**

**"We wait, until he's _not_ guarded by two dragons!"  
**

"No, duh." Snotlout snarked.

"Wow, what an _elaborate_ plan.." Dagur clapped slowly and sarcastically, causing the Riders and many others to chuckle, "Geez, no wonder we never actually won against you guys."

**The two Hunters retreat into the woods, preparing their scheme.**

**The scene fades away to show Toothless, Barf, Belch, Hiccup, Fishlegs, and the Twins gathered outside Hiccup's hut. The sound of Gobber hitting his hammer against an anvil is heard, revealing his presence as well. The camera cuts to a close-up of Gobber's face, slowly zooming out as he hammers at one of Hiccup's spare legs.**

**Hiccup sits on a rocky part of the platform morosely as the Zippleback watches, a broken prosthetic in each of their mouths.**

**"Give me those!" Hiccup suddenly snaps his head up, trying to pry the legs from the dragon's mouths. In retaliation, Barf and Belch surround him with their necks.**

**"What is this?" Tuffnut asked in incredulance as he and his sister stared.**

**"A neck hug?!" Ruffnut growled, putting her hands on her hips. Tuffnut crossed his arms, "I never got a neck hug."**

Getting an idea, Barf and Belch surrounded the Twins with their necks, and squeezed gently, picking them up from the ground. The Twins laughed, trying to pry their heads away as they realised what their dragon was doing.

"Okay, we get it, you're sorry!" The Twins breathed as the silly Zippleback put them down, but not before encasing them in dragon slobber.

"You know," Tuffnut bragged, "They totally learned that from me."

"Yeah, right." Ruffnut retaliated, "_I_ taught them that."

"O-kay, guys," Hiccup split them up before the situation to devolve into yet another Thorston fight, "You _both_ had a hand in it, alright?"

Barf giggled at the sight. Meanwhile, Belch turned his head around and nodded upwards, giving Toothless a smug look, as if he and Barf had defeated the Night Fury in some sort of game.

Toothless rolled his eyes at the other dragon's antics and lay down to sleep.

**Gobber stopped hammering for a moment and turned his head to address Hiccup, "So, you ruined all your legs, eh?" He hammered once again, "Every single one?"**

**"Argh," Hiccup grunted, pushing Barf away.**

**"Well, all but this piece of garbage," He complained as the camera panned downward to show a stiff wooden leg, "Which, let's be honest," He said as he tested it, "can we really call it a leg? ****I mean..."**

**"...Uhh..." Gobber paused as the camera panned down to reveal that the boy's wooden leg is i****dentical to Gobber's wooden leg.**

The Vikings laughed outright, and the amputees were the loudest. Yes, it was always an uncomfortable experience having to fall back on old spares, especially after you'd gotten used to the luxury of having newer and better ones.

Some of the older Vikings, Gobber included, preferred the simplicity of their old peg legs, which always made complaining about their prosthetics just the teensiest bit awkward.

**"Oh, right." Hiccup says in realisation, "Yeah, uh-" he swallowed back his words, "O-of course we can!" He scratched his head, and repeated the Twins' previous words, "It's very slimming on you, Gobber."**

"Parrot," Astrid said with a fond smile.

**Barf begins licking Toothless' head, as Belch licks Hiccup. Neither of them appear to be enjoying it in the slightest.**

**"Really?" Tuffnut deadpanned, "Right in front of our faces?"**

**"We're here, you know," Ruffnut gestured to herself and her twin, "Right here!"**

**"That's weird," Fishlegs pointed out as the camera zoomed out to reveal him standing next to the Twins, "Zipplebacks are normally fiercely loyal. Why are they doting on Hiccup and ignoring you two?"**

**"Well, didn't Hiccup pull them out of the way of a deadly avalanche?" Gobber asked as the licking continued in the background.**

**"Yeah?" Hiccup responded.**

**"Well, there you go!" Gobber stated matter-of-factly, "Same thing as my cousin, Bard. He saved a Zippleback from a Changewing. The two-headed beast wouldn't leave him alone, for years!"**

Bard sighed sadly as he remembered the glorious beast, and its unfortunate fate. If only he wasn't so blind to the great dragon's true nature.

"How did _that_ happen?" Hiccup asked, genuinely curious. Fishlegs, thinking roughly the same thoughts, continued for him, "You know, what with the whole war going on?"

"It was an accident," Gobber explained, having had to help his cousin chase the dragon away from his home for too many nights to count, "He was trying to hunt dragons to.. well, you know," The Riders grimaced, nodding for him to continue, "It just so happened that the Changewing that he was trying to make a trophy out of had almost killed a Zippleback."

"A sneaky one, that.." Bard remarked as the memories came back to him, "Couldn't hit him fast enough, and he dodged all the catapults and spears we threw at him, so we just gave up trying."

"Well, what happened to the big guy?" Tuffnut inquired, "Ooh-oh! Actually, let me guess; Uh.. explosion? Rockslide, maybe? Ooh, a dramatic and overly-emotional battle to the death?"

"¿_No es correcto_?" He continued his guesses while the others gave silent stares, "Okay, then.. what about drowning?"

"Close enough," Bard answered sadly, "He was caught in a storm while fish-hunting and got torn to pieces by a tornado."

The Hall went silent, the Vikings and dragons bowing their heads and a few taking off their helmets in respect for the fallen Zippleback. It sickened him to think that all those years ago, he felt relief at seeing that the blasted beast had finally been killed. Now, he only wished he'd gotten to know the poor dragon better.

**"So," Tuffnut asks, "this could go on for..."**

**"Ever." Gobber confirms the boy's thoughts, "It's a life-debt." **

**He continued as Hiccup listened intently, the two-headed dragon having finally stopped licking.**

**"Barf and Belch will now serve Hiccup for the rest of their lives or until the debt is repaid. Whichever comes first."**

**"D-Does this mean we could be stuck with Barf and Belch forever?" Hiccup asks fearfully.**

**"Does this mean we could _lose_ Barf and Belch forever?" Tuffnut asks, equally fearful as he shared a concerned look with Ruffnut.**

**"Yes," Gobber replied to both of them, "and yes."**

"Why are you being so calm?" Snotlout asked Gobber, with a half-annoyed and half-amused snort.

"Oh, come on. It's Hiccup! No offence, lad, but danger follows you wherever you go! Yer explorin' and stunt-flying doesn't help much, either."

Gobber leaned back in his seat, resting himself against a sleeping Grump, "Ah, I figured the two scale-heads would be able to save you by the next week!"

"Thank you, Gobber, for your unwavering confidence in my abilities."

"Anytime, lad!"

**Hiccup and the Twins exchanged looks of distraught and horror, before the silence was interrupted by Barf and Belch both licking Hiccup's hair.**

**Hiccup shielded his head with his arms as the Zippleback snorted near. Hiccup looked as if he'd been sentenced to an eternity in Helheim.**

Astrid, Stoick and a few of the other vikings in the hall, silently felt their hearts melting at the puppy-dog-eyed expression, and internally cursed themselves. Damn Hiccup and his adorableness! He was over nineteen, for goodness sake, how could he still manage to be so _cute_?

**The scene changes once more as Hiccup turned around a corner. The Zippleback revealed themselves, having approached the same area from a different corner. Belch snapped his head around as Hiccup retreated, both he and Barf scanning the area for any sign of him.**

**Hiccup stood, back facing the wooden post he was hiding behind, and took a glance. Barf and Belch, detecting Hiccup's presence, turned their heads around with a roar. Hiccup ran, and the dragon took chase.**

**"Toothless!" Hiccup called monotonedly as he ran across a bridge and suddenly fell through a trapdoor.**

**"Ah." He quote-on-quote 'shrieked' as a rope hung him upside down. "Oh, no."**

**The perspective zooms out for a moment as he swung from side to side, "No! I'm _so_ scared and in need of help!"**

The Vikings cringed as the scene played out, and many gave Hiccup incredulous looks.

"What?!" Hiccup asked at all the looks he was given.

"Seriously, dude?" Snotlout sighed, "We really gotta teach you how to act,"

First Fishface and his terrible poems, and now Hiccup with his terrible acting. Snotlout snorted; everyone on Berk knew Hiccup was a bad liar, so it was no wonder that he couldn't act. It seemed like the two nerds had another thing in common now: they both _sucked_ at theatrics. Snotlout made a note to himself; One day, he would teach them _'ze ways of le theatre'._

**"Barf! Belch!" Please, help me!"**

**For a moment, the Zippleback did nothing as they watched Hiccup swing from side to side, seeming entranced by the movement. Belch hit Hiccup first, and Barf hit back. Soon enough, the Zippleback's heads began hitting Hiccup back and forth like it was a sport.**

**"Wait, no, that's not- tha-that's not the sa-"**

The Vikings winced with each and every hit. Hanging upside-down seemed bad enough, but being hit back and forth was sure to be a nauseating experience.

**"What happened?" Tuffnut asked, appearing and peering over the wooden platform above while Hiccup tried to stop Barf and Belch from hitting him, "They were supposed to save you!"**

**"Great." Hiccup sighed as the batting grew faster, "You're not- not helping me!"**

**"Hey, they're playing_ 'Bat the Nut'!" _Tuffnut observed with a happy smile, "Ruff, hurry! _'Bat the Nut'_."**

**Ruffnut quickly appeared by his side, "I got next!"**

"What?" Ruffnut asked as the Vikings gave disbelieving looks.

**"Aah!" Hiccup fell to the ground as the rope snapped. He lay on the grass, as Barf and Belch gave him another lick.**

** "Guys, t-the point was for Barf and Belch to think they're saving my life."**

**"You're right, Hiccup!" Ruffnut realised as Hiccup pushed the dragon's heads away, "Our dragon is way too smart for this."**

**"Exactly," Tuffnut smirked, "I guess we'll have to put you in some real danger!"**

**The Twins looked at each other and retreated, laughing mischievously.**

"Oh no," was the general reply of the audience.

**"Uh," Hiccup sat up from the grass, "that's.. not what I meant!"**

**The scene then switches instantaneously to show a pile of logs stacked on top of one another. The Twins reveal themselves, looking laughably tiny in comparison.**

Stoick paled at the size of the logs, and turned to glare at the Twins.

"It was _fine_!" Ruffnut answered the unspoken question, "We had it all under control."

** They share a quick look as the camera pans outwards, revealing that the stack of logs is situated on top of a steep hill. Hiccup walks in front of it, and sees Barf and Belch stalking upwards in the forest.**

**"Now, Tuff!" Hiccup called upwards. **

"You actually went along with their plan?!" Stoick questioned, giving his reckless son a look. Those logs looked as if they could squish _any_ Viking.

"Wow," Snotlout smirked, "You must've been _really_ desperate."

"It was fine, Dad!" Hiccup assured, "Toothless was there, and he wouldn't let anything happen to me."

**The view pans quickly upwards as the Twins hopped behind the logs, revealing a sort of primitive seesaw lever system made of a log on a rock.**

**"This is the best plan to kill Hiccup, ever!" Tuffnut grinned as he lay a hand on the lever.**

**"You mean, pretend to kill Hiccup?" Ruffnut narrowed her eyes.**

**"Sure. Tomayto, tomahto!" ****Tuffnut smiled as he jumped, pushing their side of the log down, causing the logs to tumble downwards.**

The Vikings and dragons rolled their eyes. Same old Twins.

**"Come on, Barf and Belch..." Hiccup bit his lip, "Let's get moving. Logs rolling.." His breath hitched and his voice turned more desperate as he looked at the rolling logs, "Skinny lives to save!" **

**Barf and Belch snarled worriedly as they too saw the tumbling logs, and ran forwards to save him. The Twins watched in anticipation, as the two-headed dragon moved swiftly, dodging trees and skipping over rocks. Unfortunately, they're quickly thwarted as they suddenly crash into a tree. They become dizzy, and faint.**

The Zippleback in question flinched; that wasn't fun.

**"Oh, Thor!" Hiccup panted anxiously as he watched. Hiccup ducked down, grabbing his head. Just as the logs were about to flatten him, a plasma blast blows the logs to smithereens. **

**Hiccup looked up to see Toothless situated on a rock nearby. Hiccup sighed in relief, welcoming the Night Fury with open arms. **

**"Thanks, bud."**

**The tender moment is interrupted yet again, as the Zippleback, having regained consciousness, gave Toothless more licks.**

**"So close, yet again.." Tuffnut sighed as the Twins watched from afar, "We need to account for the topography next time."**

Gustav raised his hand in question, "What's topography?"

"Scenery, or the environment," Now it was Hiccup's turn to explain the complicated-word-of-the-hour, "Such as the locations of man-made or natural structures, like trees or rocks."

**"True that," Ruffnut sneered, crossing her arms, "Stupid tree."**

**Hiccup glared at the Twins angrily, trying to keep the Zippleback at a distance. The Twins gave nervous smiles and thumbs up in response.**

**The scene changes to the exterior of the Twins' hut at night, and cuts to the interior, ****with various plans and papers scattered all over the place. The camera pans upwards as Ruffnut scribbles something on one of the papers.**

"Oh, geez.." Ruffnut sighed, hiding her face in embarrassment as she remembered what was to come.

**"Too dumb," Tuffnut said as the view shows him sitting on the opposite end of the table. He pointed at a few of the plans, "Not dangerous enough. That can't work."**

**"Wait," He gasped, taking hold of one of the sheets, "Wow! That, is awesome! Hiccup would never go for it... Would he?" **

**"No," Tuffnut tossed it aside, "That's way too destructive. Even for us."**

The Vikings exchanged looks of unease. Hiccup quirked a brow in mild curiosity, but decided against asking.

"Do I even want to know?" Heather asked.

"Trust me," Fishlegs informed, recollecting his memories, "I've been in their hut; You don't wanna know."

"Ohh-kay, then."

**Ruffnut growled as her pencil snapped, and tossed it across the table with a roar of anger, before crossing her arms.  
**

The audience flinched back in surprise at the sudden outburst. Then again, they really shouldn't have been so shocked.

**Tuffnut stared for a moment before picking it up.**

**"What is it, sis?" He asked, "I haven't seen you this sad since Bjorn Boar lost in the inter-archipelago sectionals."**

**"Oh, Bjorn Boar. That was a sad day..." Ruffnut sighed, "But this is worse! Do you realize we have nothing?"**

Barf and Belch whimpered sorrowfully as they observed the redness of the on-screen Ruffnut's eyes. That only meant one thing; one of their humans had been _crying. _Their Riders nearly _never _cried, and seeing that _they_ were the direct _cause_ of that crying was just a heartbreaking notion to bear.

The Vikings saw this as well, and gave the Twins looks of sympathy, the rest of the Thorston family especially so. The Twins flushed at the pitiful stares they received- Honestly, they really didn't need the Vikings' pity, this all happened ages ago! They were over it. Still, it did feel pretty nice.

**"Nothing, I tell you. If we don't think of something, we may _never_ get Barf and Belch back from that _tyrant_!"**

**She raised her arms in frustration, "Why, Tuff? Why?! Why do they love him more than us?!"**

The Zippleback could feel their heart ache.

_"No!" _They'd wanted to shout, to scream in their riders' faces, _"We love you two the most out of any other humans! We've never thought any living creature higher than you! You two are our humans! Our reflection!"_

But dragons couldn't speak Norse, and so the two-headed dragon settled for another option; They pulled the Twins closer, letting them feel the warmth of whatever biological mechanism a dragon had that produced fire, and moved their heads and necks in a way that they were facing their humans face-to-face, and nuzzled them warmly with all they had.

The Twins were a bit confused, but didn't question it, and sunk straight into their touch. They'd seen dragons do this before with their young or their mates, and supposed this was their way of apologising. The other dragons knew better. If they could describe it in the human tongue, they'd say that it was like a traditionally draconic equivalent of a human hug, though more sentimental: Barf and Belch considered the Twins their blood; their family. Just as the other dragons considered their humans their family.

Barf and Belch certainly loved and cared for the other humans; the other Riders especially so. They trusted Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs with their _lives, _and were extremely grateful for all they'd done, but nobody truly understood Barf and Belch better than the Twins. The Zippleback loved them for that, and they'd sure as Helheim make _sure_ the Twins knew that.

**Ruffnut slammed her hand upon the table.**

**"It's the forbidden fruit." Tuffnut sat next to her, "You always want what you can't have. The dragon's always hotter on the other side!"**

**He stroked his chin and tapped his fingers on the table. **

**"We need help," Tuffnut continued, "We need someone diabolical. Someone completely devoid of any continence or human emotion whatsoever!"**

**"I can only think of one man that soulless," Ruffnut remarked, raising her head with an evil grin.**

"Viggo?" Stoick asked.

"Ryker?" Heather inquired.

"Astrid?" Snotlout suggested jokingly, to which the person in question responded with an angry, "Hey!"

"Yours truly?" Dagur wondered out loud.

"Stop that," Mala scolded, nudging her husband's elbow upon hearing his self-deprecating comment, "You were never soulless, even when aligned with those barbaric Dragon Hunters."

"But I-"

"If anything," Heather cut him off, "You were a little _too_ soulful."

**The scene fades to show Snotlout leaning against the walls outside Hiccup's hut.**

"Oh, come on!" Snotlout yelled at the screen, only to be left unheard as the sounds of his protests were drowned out by the booming laughter that echoed in the hall.

"T'is' a compliment, oh soulless one," Tuffnut clarified, trying to appease the angry viking, "We entrusted you, and _only_ you, my dearest, greasy-haired fellow, with this sacred duty... Of making Hiccup mad."

"Oh.. _Wow_," Snotlout drawled, the sarcasm practically rolling off his tongue, "Gee, thanks."

Some 'sacred duty' that was, he lost two teeth just to get that dumb dragon off of Hiccup's back!

**Snotlout smirked as the door opened, and Hiccup walked out of his hut with a yawn, rubbing his eyes with his hand.**

**"Hey!" Snotlout calls with a more deep and 'macho' act than usual.**

**"He-Hey?" Hiccup responds, looking gravely tired. Suddenly, Snotlout punches Hiccup in the face.**

The Vikings gasped, too shocked to do anything else.

** Hiccup falls on the ground with a grunt.**

**"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Hiccup shouts from the ground. First the Zippleback's life-debt, and now _this_?**

"You _didn't_.." Astrid growled at Snotlout and the Twins, the former shrugging sheepishly. Now _this_ was going way too far, and Toothless, Stoick, Gobber, as well as quite a few others shared similar sentiments.

Ruffnut snickered in confirmation, "He did!"

"Why I ought tah-"

"Okay," Hiccup interrupted Gobber, who had begun to raise his hook-hand in a threatening manner. He didn't want any of his friends getting into trouble because of him!

"W-why don't we all just... Uh, continue watching?" He suggested. It's not like he hadn't suffered physical injuries before, what was everyone so mad about?

**"Hiccup Haddock, I'm calling you out!" Snotlout smirked, punching a fist in his palm, "Defend yourself!"**

**Hiccup looked on incredulously, "D-D-D-Defend my-"**

**He looked up in shock as Snotlout picked up an axe and swung it downwards, "Yaaaaaa!" **

**Hiccup flinched, reopening his eyes to see that the axe had stuck itself to the floor.**

To say that the atmosphere was weird was an understatement. The Berkians' expressions varied from anger, to confusion, to amusement, and to annoyance.

**"Fight me!" Snotlout whispered, quickly scanning the skies.**

**"What, what? What are you doing!?" Hiccup asked with a yell.**

Hiccup cringed. In hindsight, it really should have been obvious what his cousin was actually trying to do.

**"I said, fight me!" Snotlout said with a hushed whisper, before screaming to the skies, "What's that, Hiccup? You want to fight to the death?!"**

**"What?!" Hiccup didn't get the message, "Who sa- who said that!? Nobody said that!"**

**"You did!" Snotlout hissed, picking up the axe and swinging it forwards. Hiccup just narrowly dodges, ducking down.**

**The viewpoint changes to that of a spyglass, moving upwards to see Barf and Belch flying towards the hut with a netful of fish.**

**"Here they come!" Tuffnut said as he lowered the spyglass, "Life-debt no more!"**

**"You think Snotlout'll get barbecued?" Ruffnut asked as the Twins looked on in excitement.**

"Yeah, Hookfang does that to me on a daily basis," Snotlout commented dryly, eliciting a chortle from said Monstrous Nightmare, "So thanks, but no thanks."

**"Sis, I'm afraid to tell you," Tuffnut shrugged as his sister nodded, "I always knew Snotlout would end up as collateral damage!"**

**Meanwhile, Snotlout let out a scream as he chopped a plate in two. Hiccup looked on in exasperation, walking behind him as Snotlout struggled to life the axe.**

**"OW!" Hiccup exclaims in pain as ****Snotlout flicks the back of Hiccup's head, "I'M NOT GONNA FIGHT YOU, SNOTLOUT!"**

**"You see that?" Snotlout calls out to the sky, "The future chief is a coward!"**

**Hiccup's expression changes, resolute, and actually offended this time.**

**"You heard me," Snotlout continues, "Come on, hit me!" His voice lowers, "You know you want to."**

**"Fine," Hiccup stalks towards his cousin, putting a finger on the other boy's chest, "But remember, you wanted this."**

**Hiccup pulls back his right arm, and Snotlout seems delighted to receive the upcoming punch.**

A few of the Vikings looked at Snotlout as if he had gone insane.

**But just as Hiccup is about to deliver the blow, the camera switches to the Twins wincing as a loud cracking sound, possibly the sound of Snotlout's jaw breaking, is heard.**

The Vikings widened their eyes in shock. Some of them burst into laughter, while the others simply gaped or gasped.

"Aw, what?" The Twins whined in disappointment, "We didn't get to see the actual punch again!"

**"Argh!" Snotlout screamed, grabbing his own face before looking up, "What'd you do that for?!"**

**"Oh," Snotlout raises a finger, "hold on. I gotta take a-"**

**The poor Jorgenson collapses to the ground, unconscious.**

All heads -Viking and dragon- turned to Hiccup.

"Slobbering scallops, boyo." Spitelout chuckled, his voice wavering as he failed to hide the laughter in his voice. His eyes were as wide as the base of the goblet that he held in his hand.

The Vikings couldn't believe it, Hiccup had actually _punched_ Snotlout.

Most of them knew, of course, even before the end of the three-hundred-year war, that a truly angry Hiccup was _not_ something to be messed with, and the fact that he was certainly capable of violence, as proven more than enough times in the war against the Dragon Hunters and Flyers.

Still, they never would've thought even for a single moment that he'd _actually_ end up _punching_ an ally, let alone his own cousin and fellow Dragon Rider.

Hiccup fidgeted in his seat as everyone stared at him in impressed awe. Punching Snotlout in the face wasn't exactly Hiccup's proudest moment, even if he was extremely tired and ticked off. While a tiny, minuscule part of him was pretty dang proud of the fact that everyone saw him punch Snotlout in the face, the other part didn't like it one bit. It just wasn't _him_.

On the one hand, he _punched_ _Snotlout_. On the other hand, _he_ _punched_ Snotlout.

"That's my boy!" Stoick crowed, breaking the silence with a proud laugh, "About time that boy got what was comin' to him!"

It wasn't really the fact that Hiccup had successfully knocked Snotlout out with a punch, but it was more about the fact that Hiccup had gotten enough confidence that he _actually_ stood up for himself, knowing just how self-neglecting and self-deprecating his son could be. Though the punching thing _did_ help as an added bonus. Hah, that old growth spurt did wonders.

"Hiccup, that was amazing!" Astrid praised, her eyes blazing with uncharacteristic excitement and very characteristic pride.

"Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh.." Hiccup gave a nervous and fake chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

"Sorry, Snotlout," He apologised with a whisper. Snotlout had willingly taken the hit to try and help him end Barf and Belch's life debt, _even if_ he didn't expect it to actually be that painful, or if he just wanted to make Hiccup mad. Knowing just how vain and selfish Snotlout could be, that spoke volumes of how much Snotlout actually _cared_, if he was willing to risk getting hurt for something as silly as this.

"Yeah, you better be sorry," Snotlout grumbled under his breath. His beautiful face got damaged! Well, on the bright side, at least the holes left in his gums made him look scarier. Plus, they _did_ look like pretty cool battle scars... if nobody asked how it happened.

"Note to self," Heather mumbled, "Don't make Hiccup mad."

**Hiccup stared for a moment, looking sorry, before turning around to see another pile of fish being dropped off by Barf and Belch.**

**"That was incredible," Ruffnut stared in amazement as the Zippleback screeched and flew off.**

**Tuffnut agreed, "Who knew that that scrawny, little one-legged viking had _that_ in him."**

**"Oh, brother." Ruffnut sighed, "That's it. There's nothing left."**

**"Guess Gobber was right. We've lost our dragon for good."**

**"But on the bright side," Ruffnut lifted a finger, "Snotlout _did_ just get punched in the face."**

**"Yeah! ...If only I could enjoy it."**

"Alas," Tuffnut struck a dramatically mournful pose, "It appears that our fates have failed us!"

"What does that even _mean_?" Snotlout asked to no-one in particular, to which the random viking sitting near him just shrugged.

**"Mom, Dad," The camera switches back to Snotlout, who awakes for a short moment, "Hiccup punched me. I'm really thirsty."**

"Ah, walk it off, boyo. You're a Viking!" Spitelout waved nonchalantly, earning him a very sharp and steady glare from his wife. Hookfang snapped his head towards Spitelout and gave an even sharper glare, having heard the man's remark with his sharper draconic hearing.

"Oh, sweetie," Mrs Jorgenson cooed in concern as she turned back to look at the screen. Snotlout blushed at that, and the other Vikings chuckled. Well, that was embarrassing, to say the least.

"So much for being 'completely devoid of any continence or human emotion whatsoever'," Phlegma remarked, signing air quotes with her hands.

**"Clubhouse, now." Hiccup calls, spotting the Twins. He supports Snotlout's head as he faints on the floor again, "And.." He flicks his gaze towards Snotlout, "..get him some ice."**

**The scene changes to reveal Hiccup pacing around the interior of the Clubhouse. The Twins watch, sitting boredly on the central table as Snotlout sits in a chair nearby, holding an ice-block to his head.**

**"Well," Hiccup stopped his pacing as the view cuts to reveal Toothless sitting next to him, "a little warning would've been nice!"**

**Snotlout pointed to the Twins, unable to speak.**

**"Well, to be honest, Hiccup," Tuffnut began, "We figured out what was ruining our plans."**

**"It was you," Ruffnut explained.**

**Hiccup pointed a finger at himself, "Me?"**

_Him?_ The Vikings thought in confusion.

**"You, my friend, are a terrible actor," Tuffnut stated.**

**"So.." Hiccup gestured towards his cousin, who looked on with wide eyes, "you made Snotlout attack me?"**

**"'_Surprise_' is the word we prefer to use!" Ruffnut pointed a finger upwards with a smile.**

**"We needed a real reaction from you," Tuffnut continued as the camera panned towards him.**

**"And boy, did we get one!" Ruffnut chuckled as the camera zoomed out, "Eh, Snotlout?"**

**Snotlout sobbed, digging a hand into his mouth before pulling it out with a gasp, "That's my tooth!"**

"YER KNOCKED ME BOY'S TOOTH OUT?!" Mrs Jorgenson shrieked in horror, immediately standing up and scaring the living Helheim out of everyone around her. Her poor baby boy got permanently injured!

"It's fine, mom!" Snotlout consoled, blushing. Needless to say, he was a tad bit embarrassed. He just didn't really see what the big deal was! After all, vikings lost teeth all the time! Heck, even _she_ had a few stone teeth of her own.

"We're Vikings," He continued, "it's an occupational hazard and all that, remember? I mean, it was just a few teeth.."

"There were MORE?!"

Snotlout zipped his mouth shut, "N-nevermind.."

"Great," Ruffnut snickered, "Way to get grounded."

**"Unfortunately," Tuffnut continued, "we weren't expecting Thor's mighty hammer to meet Snotlout's paper jaw."**

"Well then," Stoick said with a light chuckle, "That's certainly one way to word it."

**"Aaargh!" Snotlout yelled angrily in response.**

**"So.. okay," Hiccup continued pacing, "you do realize if Barf and Belch had actually tried to save me, Snotlout would've been roasted alive?"**

**Snotlout gasped and glared at the Twins.**

**"Yeah," Ruffnut admitted, "We took that into account in our risk assessment."**

**"Oh," Hiccup turned around and rubbed his forehead, "this situation has gotten way out of hand."**

**"Please, Hiccup. You've gotta help us!" Tuffnut pleaded, "We're completely lost without our dragon. We have nothing to live for," His voice wavered, "Don't you _understand_?!"**

Chicken let out a loud bawk.

"Oh, except for you, Chicken," Tuffnut clarified, stroking the bird's feathers, "Ruffnut, though? Eh.."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes with a scoff.

**"We will get you your dragon back," Hiccup replied, turning around. "But you two have to stop! Stop your plans, stop your schemes, okay?"**

** "I'm gonna figure this out," ****He turned to leave as the group gazed morosely, "I just need time alone."**

**Toothless moved to follow him, then stopped.**

** "You too, bud," Hiccup said, walking off as Toothless crooned.**

**Snotlout starts coughing, and spits out another tooth. **

**"Two!?"  
**

"Congratulations, boyo!" Spitelout exclaimed in pride, which received a fair share of chuckles and laughs from all over the hall. Ah, the joy of completing the unspoken rite-of-passage of losing or knocking out your first adult tooth in a rowdy battle with a friend. Oh, to be young again. His son had completed another step to becoming a man!

Snotlout rolled his eyes, resting his head on his arm as he leaned back on his now sleeping dragon.

"Hey," Tuffnut suggested, a mischievous twinkle in his good eye, "Maybe ol' _Snotifficus Loutificcus_ over here should be the new Toothless!"

The other Riders chuckled lightly. Oh, they were _never_ gonna let Snotlout live that down. Snotlout knew that, too, and, in spite of himself, (Hah, see what I did there?) chuckled as well.

Toothless chortled. Hah, as if!

"Maybe we could just call him Less-Teeth?" Ruffnut suggested with a devilish grin, "Cause he still has a lot of teeth left, and none of them are retractable like T's are."

"Great idea!" Snotlout agreed, much to everyone's surprise, "Give me a dumb and non-threatening name, and then when I actually strike..."

He made a gesture, punching his fist in the air, "Bam! The unsuspecting loser gets killed by the shock of how _awesome_ I really am!"

The other Dragon Riders rolled their eyes, not bothering to hide their fond smirks. Leave it to Snotlout to hear an insult and somehow manage to turn it into another way to stroke his ego. Toothless hid a rumble of quiet laughter, for that _was _pretty much the basis for how his and Hiccup's true names operated nowadays. Many times did a lone and inexperienced Dragon Hunter stray into the Archipelago and mistake them for demons.

"Aw, man!" Tuffnut complained, "Now I wanna have the Less-Teeth nickname!"

"You do have the noticeable gaps in your teeth to prove it," Fishlegs admitted, "We'll give you that."

"You can be... uh," Snotlout spun his hand around in some strange gesture, "Even-less-teeth!"

"_Yes!_ More numbers in my nickname!" Tuffnut slammed his hands together, feeling triumphant, "Those are numbers, right?"

"Letters," Hiccup corrected.

"Yeah, whatever."

**The scene cuts to the outside of the clubhouse. The camera pans down to the forest below, revealing Hiccup walking along. The Zippleback's heads peak out from a bush, and they move to another, following Hiccup as he wanders. Hiccup turns around as Barf and Belch make a curdling sound, but the dragon hides away just in time.**

**"Huh?" Hiccup wonders out loud as the curdling continues.**

**Just as he turns back around, a sack is suddenly thrown over his head as a large hand pulls him back.  
**

The Vikings gasped while the dragons snarled in alarm, and the tension had risen in the Hall almost immediately.

**"Argh!" He shouts as the Dragon Hunters drag him into the bushes, "oh, oh. Really, guys? What did I say?"**

**"I said-" Barf and Belch watch, roused up by the noise, "I don't- OW!"**

"What happened?" Stoick asked -well, _bellowed_ more like it- in alarm. Sure, the situation was clearly long since over by now, but the lad certainly didn't need any lasting injuries! What if they'd poked him with a sword?!

"I was fine, I think it was just a few thorns from the bush," Hiccup replied hurriedly, "Nothing too crazy!"

**"Come on, I'm serious!" Hiccup rants as the Hunter lugs him over his shoulder, "Would you let me go? No, seriously! Just put me down!"**

**"Hey! What are you doing?"**

**Barf and Belch turn to each other with an agreeing snarl, and ran off, their minds set on saving their savior.**

**"Augh," Hiccup grunts as he is set down, the sack still on his head and the lighting telling us it's night, "Okay, this is the single worst plan you have ever come up with."**

**"Oh, I don't know, brother," ****Dagur's voice is heard off-screen as the sack is removed, and Hiccup looks up in shock.**

**"You're our prisoner," Dagur continues as the perspective switches to show that he, Ryker, and the two Hunters, are present as well, located on a boat.  
**

**"Seems like a brilliant plan to me!" He continues as the camera zooms in on him. Dagur giggles madly, nudging Ryker's shoulder as Hiccup stares, clearly just _done _with it all.**

The Riders and Berserkers chuckled at Hiccup's expression, trying to ease the uneasy atmosphere floating around in the Hall and lessen the hard glares sent Dagur's way.

"Geez," Fishlegs placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder in sympathy, "That day was _not_ your day, huh?"

"What gave it away?" Hiccup dryly remarked, though his amused smile betrayed his tone.

**The camera cuts to black, before cutting to ship's exterior.**

**"So," Dagur monologues before the view cut to a top view of him approaching Hiccup, "looks like your little island stronghold isn't so strong after all!"**

**"It's completely unguarded from the North," He continues, "You know, doesn't take much to put in a watchtower."**

Dagur perked up in realisation, remembering the opening dialogue from minutes prior, and burst into laughter.

"Wow," Astrid remarked as the audience chuckled quietly, the tension lessening slightly, "Talk about bad timing."

"Yeah," Hiccup chuckled as well, turning to face Dagur, "Figures you'd take advantage of the fact that we had no watchtower _right as we decided to start building one."_

"Ah," Dagur smiled, "Isn't fate artistic, brother?"

**"No watchtower," ****Dagur chuckles as Hiccup stares, baring his teeth, "****What do you do without a watchtower? It's... It's preposterous."**

**The scene fades to a view of Toothless' face back at the Edge. The view shifts to his back, as he stares unblinkingly into the night while the sun sets. The camera zooms into the sky for a bit before cutting back to Toothless, who snarls with focus, as if knowing something bad was happening out there.**

Hiccup smiled fondly, placing a palm on Toothless' head and rubbing gently, "You always have my back, huh, bud?"

Toothless crooned in happiness as Hiccup grinned. Sometimes, an overprotective dragon came in real handy.

**The camera pops back to the Clubhouse as Astrid and Fishlegs are seen carrying crates behind him.**

**"What's Toothless doing here?" Astrid wonders.**

**Suddenly, the Twins stumble into the clubhouse.**

**"Have any of you seen Hiccup?!" Ruffnut questioned.**

**"I thought he was with you two," Fishlegs replied.**

**"No, he bailed on us, and guess who's gone, too?" Ruffnut crossed her arms, "Can't trust anybody!"**

**"They're probably out there having the time of their lives," Tuffnut started, "blasting everything in sight!"**

"Without Toothless? Hel, no," Stoick remarked. Those two were inseparable in soul.

**"Remember when random destruction was our thing?" Tuffnut asked his sister sorrowfully.**

**"Seems like yesterday," Ruffnut wipes at her eye.**

**"It was. It actually was."**

"Wasn't it more than one day, though?" Snotlout asked, distinctly remembering the hilarious sight of Barf and Belch decimating Hiccup's hut in the night.

"Ah, _especificidades não importam_," Tuffnut dismissed with a wave of his hand, "It's about the _feeling_."

"_Right_," Snotlout drawled, turning back to the screen, more confused than before.

**"Now, here we are!" Tuffnut continued, "No dragon, no destruction. No fun."**

**"Something's wrong," Astrid turned around, "If Toothless is here, and Hiccup's not..."**

**Toothless growled at the implications, turning back to face the sea.**

**Meanwhile, on the Hunter ship, chattering from the Dragon Hunters is heard as Dagur paces around Hiccup.**

**"We are gonna extract every little piece of dragon knowledge from that tiny coconut-shaped noggin."  
**

"_What_?" Hiccup frowned, though more jokingly than anything, and raised an eyebrow, "My head doesn't look like a coconut, d-does it?"

"Uh, yes it does," Dagur replied, holding up his fingers in a square as if to frame it in his mind's eye, "It's more about the abstract shape. You know, like how you have long, brown hair like a coconut, and how your head's pretty oval-shaped?"

"That's.." Hiccup gestured with his hands, as he tried thinking of the proper word, "..Vague, I guess? I still don't get it."

"Wait, what's a _nonocut_, again?" The boy named Clueless asked. Not that they'd want to admit it, but many of the other Vikings were equally as clueless as to what a coconut was.

"It's called a _coconut_, and it's a large, hard, brown, hairy, and nut-like fruit originating from Southwest Asia and Melanesia," Fishlegs explained, happy that he'd finally gotten his chance to shine and display his vast knowledge on botany, "Though, the term coconut _can_ also refer to the species of palm tree that the fruit originates from, and-"

Snotlout rolled his eyes as his friend started giving yet _another_ totally boring lecture, and slowly tuned it out. Meanwhile, however, the Vikings nodded in realisation, taking in the new knowledge, well, some of them, anyway, and chuckled. Any of the previous tension had been alleviated by the comedic conversation and the lecture that followed.

"I can totally see it," Tuffnut stated matter-of-factly, completely tuning out Fishlegs' lecture, "I mean, it's kinda obvious."

"Nah," Ruffnut dismissed her brother's train of thought, "It's more like a... cat. Like how the braids kinda resemble a tail?"

"It's a coconut!" Tuffnut pinned his head against hers.

"Cat!" Ruffnut accepted the challenge.

"Coconut!"

"Cat!"

"Coconut!"

"Cat!"

The occupants of the entire hall rolled their eyes as the Twins entered yet _another_ argument with each other. It was always either that those two got along freakishly well, or they were at each other's throats.

**Dagur crossed his arms, "We're gonna use you to take us to every island that Dragon Eye has led you to."**

**"And if I don't?" Hiccup replied curtly.**

**"Oh-ho-ho-ho," Ryker laughed as he approached, unsheathing his blade, "I hope you don't."**

**Hiccup stared at the blade, and then back at Ryker, as if challenging him.  
**

**Ryker laughs for a moment, happy to complete to job, when an explosion suddenly occurs from behind them. The camera whirls around the ship as ****Barf and Belch attack, spreading gas all over.**

"YEAH!" The Twins cheered, pumping their fists in the air as they watched their dragon rescue Hiccup. The Vikings cheered as well, though none cheered louder than the Zippleback's two proud riders.

**Hiccup looks on in disbelief, "What the-"**

**Ryker growls, looking around for the attacker as Dagur groaned. The Zippleback continues spreading the gas, and ignites. Chaos erupts as the men clamoured about, sparks of fire and ash from the explosion floating all over. Dagur dusts himself off as Ryker grunts, turning around to see Hiccup screaming behind.**

**"Aaah!" Hiccup yells, running to try and making his escape. Dagur and Ryker unsheathe their weapons..**

"Real stealthy, Hic." Snotlout snarked, "Nice knowing ya."

"Wait for it," Hiccup said as he held up a hand.

**...Before looking up. Barf and Belch land with a growl in front of Hiccup, roaring dangerously at the attackers.**

** "****First time in a.." Hiccup pauses to catch his breath, "..good long while that I've been happy to see you guys."**

**The Zippleback looks onward to see a group of Dragon Hunters running towards them, weapons raised. Hiccup manages to break free of the rope binding his arms and grabs hold of one of the Hunter's arms, pushing him back with a grunt.**

The Vikings watched with dropped jaws. They knew that Hiccup had physically grown by so much over the years, but.. _this_? By Níðhöggr's teeth, considering just how large that Hunter was, and how much training and experience the Hunter had probably undergone for more than a decade, that was downright _impressive_!

**Belch tosses the Hunter overboard, and he and Barf both knock the remaining Hunters out. Just as more Hunters approach, the two heads look at each other and send an explosion to the sky.**

**The explosion is seen from the Clubhouse.**

**"That's Barf and Belch!" Tuffnut started, facing his twin with worry.**

**"That's their distress signal!" Ruffnut explained. The Twins duck as a Nadder's growl is heard off-camera, and the rest of the Dragon Riders swoop out.**

**"Hey, wait!" Tuffnut shouts as the others leave, "That's _our_ dragon out there!"**

**"What do we do?!" Ruffnut asks. Their faces light up as an idea comes to them both, and the camera zooms out as the Twins turn to look at Toothless.**

**"Hey, T," Tuffnut begins, "how you been?"**

**Toothless looks at them as Tuffnut cackles, and recoils unhappily.**

Laughter rumbled through the Hall. Toothless rolled his eyes, rumbling with an unamused snort.

**Meanwhile, on the ship, Hiccup grunts as he pushes back a Hunter's axe, kicking him in the shins and sending him tumbling towards Barf and Belch, who knock him to the floor.  
**

Whistles could be heard as the crowd cheered, watching with rapt attention at all the action, grins on nearly all of their faces. The tension had completely gone, by now, and they were eager to see how it ended.

**"I've had enough of this," Ryker pushes another Hunter out of the way as Dagur watches. Hiccup takes an axe and starts guarding himself against another.  
**

"Dayum," Gobber whistled as he and Stoick looked on with pride, "Someone's been workin' out, eh, lad?"

Hiccup blushed, "Well, riding a dragon, fighting two wars, flying at extremely high speeds, and constantly getting into danger will do something to you."

**Hiccup gasps as Ryker knocks him over, and screams as Ryker prepares his final blow. But just before that happens, Barf and Belch toss Ryker down with their tails.**

**"Phew!" Hiccup sighs in relief as Ryker falls on the deck, "Nice job, guys!" **

**"Get us out of here," He says, touching Barf's head with a smile.**

**"Oh, boys!" Dagur calls as he pushes a ballista forward. Barf lets out a storm of gas in response as Dagur flinches back, "****Oh, no."**

"Oh," Dagur cringed as the Vikings chuckled, "Well, I was an idiot."

**Shouting is heard as the explosion launches everything into the air, and Ryker somehow manages to get tangled in a rope, hanging from the mast upside-down.**

**"And now I owe you one," Hiccup says, looking at the dragon.**

The debt had been fulfilled, the Vikings realised with a blink.

**"Time to go!" Hiccup shouts as more Hunters approach. Another explosion sends the Hunters flying overboard, as Hiccup, Barf, and Belch fly away from the ship. Hiccup looks back for a moment as a familiar snarl is heard.**

**"Hey!" Hiccup hears Tuffnut call as the other Dragon Riders nearly run him over.  
**

**"Oh, no, no no, no, no!" Hiccup shouts as the Twins come flying on Toothless, and the six of them come crashing down.**

**"Hiccup!" Astrid calls.**

**"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup shouts as they fall, managing to get back in the saddle and steer them out of harm's way right before they hit the ocean.**

**"Woah!" The Twins shout as they, too, fall towards the sea, Zippleback in tow. A net suddenly shoots out, trapping Barf and Belch as Dagur laughs maniacally.**

The Thorstons gasped in concern, none more so than the Thorston Parents. They knew the Twins were tough survivors, but how did they manage to escape this time?

**A muffled crash is heard as the view switches to underwater. The Twins swim towards their trapped and unconscious dragon, pulling the net in an attempt to free them.  
**

The audience watched, some biting their bottom lips with bated breath.

**The Twins pause, and share a look as Tuffnut points down. Ruffnut and Tuffnut swim to the bottom of the net, and begin pulling together.**

**"Yes!" Ruffnut cheered as the four broke out of the water. Tuffnut shared the same sentiment, "****Back in the saddle, baby!"**

The Vikings cheered once more, louder than they had before during the past half-hour. That was pretty clever of the Twins, a few had conceded. It seemed the Twins were more intelligent than they let on.

**Dagur growled in frustration as they swooped away. The Dragon Riders regrouped as Hiccup called, "****Let's get these hunters away from Dragon's Edge!"**

**"Woah," Ruffnut called as they all swooped into action, "I missed this!"**

**The Twins high-fived as the camera followed them. **

**"You can say that again, sister!"**

**"Take out the catapults!" Astrid commands as she and Stormfly narrowly dodged a flying boulder. Dagur looks on as the dragons wreak havoc upon the ship.**

**"Get us out of here!" Dagur orders. A plank of wood falls on him, and he faints with a thud.  
**

Chuckles rang through the hall as Dagur rubbed the back of his head sorely. That hurt!

**The Dragon Riders watch as the ship sails away, smoking and burning.**

**The scene cuts to daylight, and back ****on Dragon's Edge.**

**"So," Astrid begins as the view switches to show her and Hiccup on a walk together, "looks like the old life-debt has been repaid."**

**"Barf and Belch saved me from the Dragon Hunters, and Ruff and Tuff saved their dragon from drowning. ****Thank Thor, everything's back to normal."**

**The conversation is interrupted by a hitting noise.**

**"****Yeah!" ****Tuffnut chuckles as the camera pans to show the Twins hanging upside-down, surrounded by Barf and Belch, "Hit me again!"**

The Vikings snickered, a bit weirded out, but overall still glad to see the Twins back to their old selves and shenanigans. They hadn't realised how much they appreciated the Twins' comedy before this, and unknowingly began to see the two Thorstons in an oddly new light.

**"Me next!" Ruffnut cheered excitedly as they continue playing, "Me next!"**

**Hiccup gave a half-shrug, "Well."**

**Astrid crossed her arms fondly, "Normal for us, anyway."**

**"Argh!" Out of nowhere, Snotlout took a running start and pounced upon an unsuspecting Hiccup, "Will someone _please_ tell this lunatic it's over?!"**

**"Snotlout!" ****Snotlout cheers triumphantly as Astrid shook her head at the two fondly.**

"Snotlout!" The short Dragon Rider cheered in synchronisation with the screen, much to Hiccup's chagrin and the Hall's laughter.

Remembering her mental note, Heather approached the Witch, who'd appeared yet again in a pile of smoke.

"Hey, uh... what's your name, again?" Heather asked, not wanting to seem rude to someone who was probably a powerful seidhr practitioner, and being unsure if just calling her 'Witch' would be considered derogatory or insulting.

"The Witch," The Witch responded, nonchalant and friendly.

Heather blinked, disbelieving.

"Your name is literally 'The Witch'?" She asked.

"Well, for the sake of this story and because of the fact that I'm just too lazy to come up with another name right now, yes. Call me the Witch," The cloaked woman explained, "Besides, it can't be any worse of a name than what you Vikings have."

"Ah.. okay, Witch," Heather bit her lip, a tad confused at what the Witch meant by _'this story,'_ and continued, "Uh.. hey, so.. I was wondering if.. maybe, for the next moving-picture-thing, you could show something about Dagur being a good person?"

The Witch seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Hm... Sure," She finally responded with a smile, "Why not? Right after this next one, though. I'll still need time to think of _which_ instance specifically.."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Sorry for not saying what was coming next in the previous chapter, it was posted pretty late at night and I forgot, lol. Next up is Blindsided, because I think we all deserve some nice Hiccstrid content after all the rest-of-the-gang heavy episodes. Also would be fun to write about the entire village being massive Hiccstrid shippers.**

**Suggest which good-Dagur-featuring episodes to do after Blindsided, please!**


End file.
